Review: Parasite

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If only Oxford has a counter-fitting course..

Kim Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi) lives with his parents, Ki-taek and Chung-sook (Kang-ho Song and Hye-jin Jang) and sister Ki-jung (So-dam Park) in a basic apartment doing odd jobs to make ends meet. By luck, one of his friends offers him a tutoring position for a rich family. Ki-woo decides to scheme his family members into jobs within the rich household, but they all pretend not to know each other. 

If you've spent any amount of time on Film Twitter since Cannes, Parasite has been all the buzz. One consistent thing I heard was to know as little as possible before going in. So I did. I only saw the trailer for this film for the first time last week when I went to see Jojo Rabbit. The hype was impossible to escape. I had high expectations until I saw a tweet calling it a mash up between Burning and Roma. That brought my expectations down substantially considering I think both of those movies are awful. Thankfully, this film is nowhere near as boring as those two.

It's true about going in blind so I won't speak to anything specifically, but ultimately this film is about classism and the large divide between the very rich and the very poor. These two families could not be bigger opposites. The rich will never worry like the poor, and the poor will never feel the stability of the rich. 

I really liked all of the actors involved. Kang-ho Song is a regular in director Bong Joon Ho's films and I always enjoy seeing him. I especially liked the actors playing the kids, and the rich wife.  I really enjoy what I've seen on Bong Joon's films and I hope to see more of his older filmography. I really hope Parasite gets him into the Best Director field at the Oscars this year because he deserves it. 

Without going into details, my only gripes were a few minor things that I thought we would get more context on, but this is a rare film that lived up to all the long term festival hype.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A-

Memorable Quote: "Do you think I fit in here?" - Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi)

Comments

  1. GeektellerNovember 19, 2019 at 8:56 AM

    I'm glad you liked Parasite, it's a great film with a cool script and good performances.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thevoid99November 19, 2019 at 11:33 AM

    I was really hoping to see this film when it was at my multiplex for a couple of weeks but timing and the demands of a 7-month old baby made me tired. I hope to see this as soon as possible as I'm a big fan of Bong Joon-ho.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 20, 2019 at 6:25 AM

      Those babies, needing all that attention. lol. I Hope you get a chance to see it, especially before the Oscars.

      Delete
  3. ChrisNovember 20, 2019 at 5:03 AM

    I'll take your advice and go in blind. Happy to hear mostly lived up to the hype.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GetterNovember 27, 2019 at 5:06 AM

    Saw this one on the plane. Went in knowing nothing. I just heard the buzz. Hadn't even watched the trailer.

    LOVED it! I liked how it surprised me and how I laughed like a crazy person on the plane. It's dark, it's heavy and yet it finds these small moments of humour, which kind of mashes well with my personality. One of my favourites for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamNovember 27, 2019 at 6:32 AM

      Oh I know, there was a lot of humor in there. I went in so blind as well. I'm glad you liked it too!

      Delete

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