This movie exceeded my expectations. What a way to showcase class struggles and differences between the wealthy and financially lacking in brilliantly done social commentary! This movie feels like it's moving at lightning pace because of how effortlessly it flows. There isn't a dull moment to it, you're either on edge or learning more about it's well-defined characters. Each is distinct and so well performed. I recognized Korean-Canadian actor Woo-sik Choi from "Train to Busan" (he's looking fine in this too btw XD) as the brother Ki-Woo. I may be biased because I've grown to really like seeing him, but he was my favorite character in this film. I see him as the main character since he really starts the film with a conversation and ends it with a monologue to his father. Really well done, applause to you sir!
I loved seeing the scheming involved in this, with a name like "Parasite" I thought this was going to be sci-fi in nature. But it's not at all! It's more of a home invasion film where the rich owners willingly allow these people to come into their lives. The Kim family were some sneaky bastards let me tell you and I loved it! It's like a better version of Ocean's films (sorry fans of that series), but with less heisting and more actual manual labour. But still a lot of deception, showing class division without making the rich too "villain-like". So seeing as the story/screenplay was superb, it's of course coupled with great camerawork/visual representations and an on-point soundtrack to back it up. There's some amazing parallel driven scenes that involve flooding that show that you don't have to treat an audience like they need to be spoon-fed information. Which I appreciate a lot! I'm so glad this film had a U.S. release because not having people over here see it because of subtitles...that would be tragic! I want more foreign films released in theatres over here to be honest!
This by far is one of the best films of 2019. It's thrilling, funny, tragic and very very intelligent. Please watch it if you haven't! I'm definitely going to have to check out more from the director/co-writer because he's impressed me highly and clearly is a master at his own craft. I love Asian cinema and foreign films in general, this is exactly why. You miss out on so much greatness if you stick to only "your language" while watching films. Don't be one of those people! I'm going to have to watch the movie a few more times to really pick up on everything. Also final side-note, the poster for this film is genius. You'll know what I mean once you've watched it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Very dark with surprising twists
8.5/10 is my rating. This is South ean thriller thriller drama that runs 132 minutes.Two worlds collide when members of a poor family struggling to make end meet go to work for the wealthy Park family. In the same genre of dark twisted tales as “Basic Instinct”, “Gone Girl”, “Pacific Heights”, “Momento” and “The Game.”
Kim Ki-taek, Mr Kim; (Song Kang-ho)
Head of the down on their luck but looking for their next mark Kim family. He poses as an experienced chauffeur to gain employment with the Parks.
Park Dong-ik, Nathan (Lee Sun-kyun)
ERned his wealth as a successful business man and mostly allows his wife to manage household affairs including hiring household staff.
Choi Yeon-gyo, Madame (Cho Yeo-jeong)
The easily manipulated wife and mother of the Park family.
Kim Ki-woo, Kevin (Choi Woo-shik). Ki-woo’s friend approached him as he was leaving to study abroad and wanted him to fill in his tutoring job and keep other boys away from the girl he is tutoring and likes (he is waiting for her to get older). While Ki-woo does not have credentials he has studied for and taken entrance exams enough that he has gained expertise. He is the first member of the Kim family to be employed by the Parks.
Kim Ki-jung , Jessica (Park So-dam) Upon mention the Park family is looking for an art teacher, Kevin says he might know someone who can appreciate the Park son’s unique art style and introduces Jessica (secretly his sister who also has phony credentials).
Chung-sook (Jang Hye-Jin). Matriarch of the Kim family her other family members work behind the scenes to get her hired as the head housekeeper (all the while pretending not to know each other)
Park Da-hye (Jung Ji-so) High school daughter of the Park family who is being tutored to prepare for entrance exams.
Park Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun) youngest member of the Park family. He receives art lessons from Jessica.
Son of the Park family, who is obsessed with Native Americans.
Park Seo-joon as Min-hyuk (Park Seo-joon) Ki-woo’s friend who gets the entire Kim family in the door (unintentionally) by recommending his friend, Ki-woo to replace him as
Da-Hye’s tutor.
This was a very dark story in that the wealthy family was conned into giving the entire Kim family positions which they were not qualified for. Through careful manipulation and deceit they were able to eliminate existing staff and obtain high paying jobs with the Parks. At one point the Kim’s collected information on all relevant personal and financial details leading to the conclusion rather had something even darker in mind. Things took some very unexpected twists at the end. I liked this movie and it reminded me of some very dark American dramas I have seen over the years. i felt like the change from one up man ship to murder happened more quickly than the situation warranted and felt it would have added suspense if things had built to that point a bit more slowly. It is a very good movie in this genre and I understand why it gained recognition.
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The dissension between bourgeois and proletariat were presented with two families where obviously one belongs to the privileged class whereas another from the lower middle class. Fate turned up in a way where both families come in contact with each other through adopting shoddy method by the latter. Eventually the temporary elation transformed into repugnant misfortunes costing both the families’ life of a loved one though there was no pernicious intention whatsoever from the beginning.
Basically to my perception, the writer wanted to elicit that accepting one’s socio-economic condition is the best way rather than being wafted by greed. Precipitous actions would always bring-forth debacle. As the very name suggests itself “parasite”, this social parasite had existed, existing and will exist but instead of indignation it is ideal to work consistently and persistently towards changing one’s situation.
All in all it is a fantastic movie. No wonder it already secured a reputable international award. The casts had all shown remarkable performances, alongside smart writing and direction. Everyone interested in movies in general should watch it because I have personally never seen such an unusual portrayal of a typical subject matter.
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The War Between The Drowning and The Drowned
I understand the hype around this movie and it deserves it all. It holds true to the Oscars it won even though those four statues don't define a gem such as this.Parasite, in general, is a movie about classes in society and the depiction of this theme is deep in many ways with the darkest of humor one can write. It's engaging and thrilling, but most of all, it spreads a message no one would have expected from it. Twenty minutes into it and one is already drawn to the fact that this movie is not something you'd easily find on Netflix or any other movie bingeing sites. When Bong Joon Ho made a film out of this script, he clearly wasn't aiming at beautifying social hierarchy or pleasing the audience ( but he did it anyway), and you'd immediately find that out. The director wanted to spread a meaningful message as he did in all his previous movies and his intentions become clear towards the end of the movie when things take a turn. The movie, Parasite, was aiming at portraying the war between the Drowning and Drowned (both who I refer to as the working class that's trying so hard to survive the clutches of the rich who's the only boat in the vast ocean that can help save them). I wouldn't want to give anything more away so I highly recommend everyone to definitely watch Parasite as it's a rare jade to find these days.
I suggest all who haven't watched Parasite yet to walk in with no expectations. It gets better every minute and you'll know it but having no expectations will just help you experience the entire essence of the movie as you won't be looking forward to something that's not there.
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Must watch: A close look into society´s dark mind
A fucking well deserved Oscar. A must watch movie with thrilling drama and mistery that got me enrolled with the whole thing, closely looking into criminals and both high and low society's mind. The acting was just spectacular and the plot and story was definitely worth more than just two hours. The ending is unexpected and the whole thing is super smart, impacting my life and the way we all look at each other. And plus, i just needed to say that im in love with Park Seo Joon´s cameo. He´s character was really funny and since he started everything i was waiting for his comeback. Even tho he was forgotten and that story line was left aside, he definitely didn´t dissapoint either.Was this review helpful to you?
“The rain last night was such a blessing”
Holy crap, this movie was one heck of a journey!! This movie has quite a slow start, however it picks up after the first twenty or so minutes and completely sucks you into the storyline. In an effort to keep this spoiler free, I will avoid making this too long or too detailed. The second half of this movie is a wild ride, however, and the many plot twists this movie threw at me left me at a loss for words. The amazing acting, comedy, storyline, twists, and a haunting yet thought provoking ending make this movie a must-watch for anyone, not just a regular kdrama viewer! As a bonus, the messages that this movie makes about the division of economic classes in South Korea makes this movie not only a great comedy thriller, but also a wonderful philosophical conversation topic.Was this review helpful to you?
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A cynical, satirical, burlesque portrayal of glaring disparities between poor and wealthy in society
This is quite the interesting drama, I was prompted to watch it by the extreme publicity and international hype that it's received since it won the coveted Palme D'Or.Storywise I'd say there's nothing out of the ordinary about this story ( I mean the implied and overt conflict between the rich and poor) the ingenuity comes in with the way the simple subject matter of socio economic disparity between societal strata is tackled. The way a straightforward tutoring job of one family member morphs into the entire poor family of mother, father, son and daughter being employed by the same wealthy family. What struck me the most was the entitled mindset of the poor family, their apparent lack of remorse or shame for their dishonest actions; my attention was drawn to the unusual portrayal of poor people as unscrupulous and dishonourable, this was particularly evident in the behaviour of Kim Ji Sung (the daughter) After watching many a KDrama where poor people are portrayed as principled, hard working and honourable, this aspect of the story was jarring. In this case poverty was debilitating to the extent that they were prepared to do anything to overcome it.
The portrayal of the wealthy family in my opinion was nothing out of the ordinary, just your average rich people living in their comfortable and nice smelling bubble, a bubble where poor people are there as a mod con to make their lives even more luxurious and fuss free. This was excellently portrayed in the scene where Madame calls from the car on their way from the aborted camping trip and instructs the maid that she should start preparing "ram-don" so that as they literally walk into the house, the ram-don will be just ready to eat.
The collision of these two worlds is what makes this movie fascinating; three separate groups of people each with their own set of expectations on what they were hoping to get from their interaction with each other. The fact that the reality falls short of the expectation is what creates the slow motion train wreck that is this movie.
The cast and acting are superb. special mention goes to Cho Yeo Jung who plays the wealthy and luxuriously oblivious wife, mother and madame of the house. Song Kang Ho is brilliant in his role of the poor husband and father who is so inured to poverty, he has developed a sense of helplessness and resentment which culminates in his crass over-reaction to events at the end of the movie, over-reaction in the sense that had he not already reached boiling point, things may not have gotten so out of hand, the same applies to Moon Gwang's husband Oh Geun Sae.
I didn't pay too much attention to the music.
Rewatch value is quite high 9/10 as I would like to see what other observations I can make on a second viewing.
Overall I give it a 9.
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Overall, this movie earned the award rightfully. Worth to watch. I enjoy it.
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Thought-provoking and masterful storytelling
This is the type of movie that starts out quiet and funny, but spirals down into something more scary and dramatic, all without being jarring. The subtlety was one of Parasite's best traits, and it's why I couldn't stop thinking about the symbolism, the theories afterwards. I've found so many small hints that I missed while watching it and now it just blows my mind moreThe cinematography was beautiful. My favorite was the montage of the family carrying out their grand plan for the housekeeper, but throughout the movie you could tell that every scene was thought-out and its message about the distribution of wealth and elitism was depicted brilliantly in the cinematography alone.
Overall, Parasite was so cleverly made, and all the characters were very realistic, and the movie sets up people on both sides without vilifying anyone. The music was also edited in really well — when things were about to happen, the music got sinister and I felt nervousness. In the moment, though, there was nothing that really made me feel surprised. The epilogue and ambiguity of many plot points are things that you grow to appreciate, but it's a movie that you have to think about afterwards.
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There is nothing new about some rich people look down on poor people.However in this movie it is ullustered in a different way. After i finished the movie it made me speechless and shocked. There is a lot of symbolism in this movies. So, focus focus focus otherwise you will miss some improtent topics.
There is a few bloody scenes and I personally is not a fan of it... so thats the reason why I am not rewatching it.
Give this movie a try if you want something that will distract you from the real world.
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Parasite is about a high school student named Kim Gi Woo, who lives with his family in a basement and thanks to his friend he started working as a tutor in a rich family. He used their naiveness to employ the other family members too.
Kim Gi Woo wasn’t very educated but he was indeed very sly. The life of his family was going up and down, while they were trying to become rich and live a comfortable life.
I personally enjoyed this film a lot and it kept me interested in what will happen to the family in the end. The acting was amazing. The whole cast did a great job at portraying their characters and their emotions. The story was very well written and the cinematography was also very good. When I was watching this film I laughed but I also felt sorry and I was sad. Parasite is a must see. Everyone should give it a chance and I’m sure that they won’t regret watching it.
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