OSCARS 2020: Parasite (2019)

Last decade, three of the most well-regarded Korean directors of the time came to America. Each would make a flashy genre film and none of them would see much success. Chan-wook Park's “Stoker” received some good reviews but found neither financial nor wide-ranging critical prominence. Kim Jee-woon's “The Last Stand” was a box office flop, though Schwarzenegger fans found plenty to appreciate. Bong Joon-ho's “Snowpiercer” received raves but was largely overshadowed by the director's feud with the distributor. Each director returned to South Korea after their Hollywood excursions, to much success. Bong's “Parasite,” in fact, has become the biggest international hit of the director's career. Among 2019's most critically adored films, it is now the first Korean movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Some are pegging it as the likeliest winner too.

The Kim family - father Ki-taek, mother Chung-sook, teenage son Ki-woo, and middle daughter Ki-jeong – live a meager existence, residing in a basement apartment and pulling off various cons and small jobs to earn what little money they can. A friend of Ki-woo's, soon to study abroad, works as an English tutor to the Parks, a rich family that lives in an opulent home. Ki-woo takes this position and, soon, finds way to integrates the rest of his family into the Park household. Ki-jeong bullshits her way into the role of art therapist to the Park's hyperactive son, while Kim and Chung-sook displace the family's established driver and housemaid. While the Kims initially enjoy their newfound wealth, they soon uncover the Park house has secrets of its own.

“Parasite” is a film that happily ricochets between different tones, a hallmark of Bong's other work. In its first half, it functions largely as a very funny comedy that is extremely aware of its own ideas. Upon receiving a scholar's stone – a symbol of prosperity – as a gift, Ki-woo remarks it's “very metaphorical.” A supporting character delivers a fiery monologue about North Korea, which doubtlessly has a more specific meaning to a Korean audience. Mostly, watching the ease with which the Kims bullshit their way into the Park household is hilarious. Elaborate con jobs are effortlessly pulled together, the Kims easily fooling the gullible Parks to make room in the house for their own family members. Bong even throws in some wacky physical comedy later, when pratfalls reveal some people hiding behind a wall.

Yet, as it goes on, “Parasite” becomes a more pointed, incisive story of class division. There's a very deliberate moment when this shift occurs. For the Park son's birthday, the rich family goes camping. The trip is rained out. As the rain continues, the slum where the Kims actually lived is horribly flooded. To the point where raw sewage is geysering out of their toilet. Their rich employers ask the Kims to continue on as if nothing happened, totally unaware that the lower-class family's life has been overturned. Rich Mr. Park starts to comment that his driver smells differently from them. He starts to refer to “a line,” which can never be crossed. Bong's point is not subtle. Those that live in gilded homes, that plan garden parties and lavish attention on their dogs, cannot relate to those that live in basement apartments, who have to lie to survive. As “Parasite” races towards its delirious climax, the contrast between what's important to one class and what's important to the other becomes even sharper.

Yet “Parasite” is not just a hilarious comedy and a perceptive social satire. It's also a thriller that is constantly catching its audience by surprise. Midway through the film, there is a truly unexpected twist. To discuss it in too much detail is to spoil the fun. However, needless to say, a huge monkey wrench is thrown into the Kim's plan, suddenly forcing them to think on their feet to disguise their own subterfuge. This already suspenseful situation is further exacerbated by Bong's masterful direction and editing. The camera moves along at a breakneck space through the hallways of the particularly designed home, at least when Bong isn't pausing to focus on a striking image. Such as a tepee centered in the perfectly green lawn or a light flickering inside a stairway.

As with “The Host,” “Parasite” sees Bong turning his eye on a scrappy family that fiercely protect each others and do what they have to survive. As in that film, Song Kang-ho plays the family's patriarch. Song's slacked face and heavy eyes convey so much emotion without saying a word, which becomes very important as the situation grows graver. Park So-dam is also electrifying as Ki-jeong, the daughter of the Kim family who seems to delight the most in fooling people. There's a lived-in quality to the moments of the Kims being by themselves, as they wear ratty pajamas and freely swear. The cast feels like they belong together, immediately endearing them to the audience and making the story so much more meaningful.

I imagine “Parasite” comments on international relations in a way that probably goes over my American head. The Park family is enamored of American culture, thinking of English as a very sophisticated language and spoiling their European-breed dogs. (And their son is obsessed with “playing Indian,” with all the suction-cup arrows and headdresses that implies.) These themes and ideas are ones that will surely be discussed and analyzed more in the years to come, as I have no doubt “Parasite” will remain a film fan favorite from here on. It's a beautifully orchestrated film, brilliantly written and directed, that has so much to say about the world we live in now. Whether it'll win Best Picture remains to be seen – after all, we thought “Roma” was a sure shot and then the Academy gave it to fuckin' “Green Book – but I doubt that matters much to Bong Joon-ho, who is probably more satisfied having made a great movie. [9/10]