Parasite Review
At this point, Bong Joon-Ho has created a wide array of genre films that are all somehow still uniquely his. Between Snowpiercer and The Host to Memories of a Murder, he has taken viewers on journeys through action-packed landscapes, sinister city streets, and the intricacies of familial bonds. Not only have his past works stood out to be great genre-films in their own right, but they have also allowed Joon-Ho to familiarize himself with the syntax and semantics of these genres. Now, with Parasite, Joon-Ho has managed to blend these genres into something familiar yet different that stands out in his pantheon of films and stands neck-to-neck with many giants of filmmaking.
We are first introduced to the lower-class family of Ki-Taek; his out-of-work parents are trying to do what they can to make ends meet, but are also relying on their children to make their way. With little else to do other than fold pizza boxes for a pizza chain, Ki-Taek is offered the opportunity to teach English to the daughter of a well-off family. This opportunity becomes more and more complicated as Ki-Taek becomes engrained in the family and riskier opportunities reveal themselves. This, simultaneously, is the rabbit hole that Parasite goes down to maneuver and weave through the interrelationships of a working-class family and a “nice” family that has made it in the capitalistic backdrop of Korea. These two families, unbeknownst to the characters, are pitted against each other and serve as a juxtaposition between the rich and the poor — the winners and losers of capitalism.
The stage is thus set for Bong Joon-Ho to explore the dynamics of different families and represent these characters as both sympathetic and damning at the same time. It is an imperfect world filled with morally-grey decisions to fulfill an exposition on how a capitalistic society can both destroy and bring-together families. There are elements of mystery and suspense as the viewer tries to surmise what will happen next between the families and horror as the viewer can’t believe what happens next. In the same instance, Joon-Ho interweaves the narrative between the families and characters while also masterfully maneuvering through genres. Not only is the direction there for this to work, but all elements of the film serve this purpose: the score successfully changes from beautiful to harrowing, the cinematography shifts between stunning and claustrophobic, and the actors all serve appropriate response through these changes. In a sense, this is what makes Parasite a film that will be talked about for a while. Each element of the film is fluid and does so skillfully. It all serves as a tool for Joon-Ho’s to create something that shouldn’t all work together on paper, yet does so in a graceful and beautiful manner.
Rating
★★★★★
