Contrary to popular belief, apparently it’s surprisingly easy to find good help these days.
Parasite (기생충) (MA15)
Directed by Bong Joon-Ho
Korean, with English subtitles
Ticket purchased
Maybe it’s a side-effect of not living in a capital city, but I was barely aware of Parasite until it made headlines at the Oscars. Winning 4 Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director) gave it renewed attention, meaning my local chain cinemas opted to give it a run- and it’s quite the ride. (If your cinema is no longer carrying the film, it is already available for purchase and rental on YouTube, iTunes and other video services.)
The film follows the Kim family, who begin the film unemployed and living in a semi-basement apartment. Even internet access has to be leeched from their neighbours, but their fortunes appear to turn around when son Ki-woo receives a lucky ‘scholar’s rock’ from his friend Min. More importantly, Min sets up Ki-woo with a job interview as an English tutor with a rich family, the Parks, and Ki-woo (as ‘Kevin’) bluffs his way into employment.
After his first day, the lady of the Park household lets slip that her son, Da-song, has had trouble finding an art teacher. Ki-woo’s sister, Ki-jeong, then poses as ‘Jessica’ to take the job, and from there the Kims plot to have the remaining household help deposed from their positions in order to gain employment for the whole family.
From there Parasite appears to be taking a fairly well-trodden path- the fish out of water, eventually found out as not having the knowledge they claim, or being exposed as preying on their well-to-do (if naive) employers. But just when you think the film is predictable, it takes a very different turn; multiple twists, in fact. I managed to predict one plot event, but it occurred long after events had derailed my idea of the story.
Parasite appears to be headed for a Fawlty Towers-style pileup of conflicting stories, a dark secret is revealed that sets the final act in motion. Make no mistake, the film earns its MA15 rating; while there is no nudity and minimal language, the tone of the film’s final third is extremely dark. At best, there are a few touches of black comedy (black farce?) and some real laugh-out-loud moments, but these only make the twists more pronounced when they do come. And just when you think the film is about to end, there’s still one last twist.
It’s that unpredictability that makes Parasite gripping, but there’s also a depth to the characters. The Kims might be rogues, but they always show a dedication to doing their jobs to the best of their ability. The Parks seem shallow and there are hints of dysfunction, but they too are portrayed as sympathetic. One of the themes of the film is the class divide; an event that is a minor inconvenience for the Parks is catastrophic for the Kims, and Bong Joon-ho is happy to take us straight from one side of the story to the other.
Parasite is a film that is a little hard to describe without spoiling; the trailer implies horror elements (kind of true), and there are comedic moments, but to go into further detail is to take away some of the magic. (Credit to distributors Madman, by the way, for resisting the urge to feature spoilers in the film’s official trailer.) But it absolutely sticks with you- long after the credits roll and the lights have gone up in the theatre. Gripping, surprising, tense and dark, it’s well worth your time.
