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Parasite has been one of the most talked about
movies of the year, and it just made history by becoming the first South Korean film to
earn the coveted Palme d'Or award from the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the first
ever to win an Oscar, taking home a total of four from its six nominations, including
Best Picture. \par Non-English language films notoriously have
a difficult time finding traction in the states, and I think the film owes much of its success
around the world to its reliance on\b cinematic \b0 language rather than \b spoken\b0 language
to communicate its themes and its story. \par Through its production design, direction,
cinematography, hair, make-up and costuming, as well as the blocking of the actors; we
examine two families on opposite sides of the economic spectrum, and every cinematic
tool is put to use to show the contrast between the two, right from the very first shot of
the film that looks out of the Kim's semi-basement window, with a glimpse of natural sunlight
pouring through, and the camera pans donward. Compare that to the first time we see the
Park's home, the camera is moving upward into full view of the sun. Bong uses the balance
of light and darkness, natural vs urban environments, and a character's vertical position to signal
their economic or moral status, with any fluctuations being reflected in the blocking or the camera
movement. \ldblquote You\rquote re still half overground, so there\rquote s this hope and
this sense that you still have access to sunlight and you haven\rquote t completely fallen to
the basement yet. It\rquote s this weird mixture of hope and this fear that you can fall even
lower." (Bong Joon-Ho) The Kim's start at the bottom, beneath the garbage, beneath their
own toilet, reaching upward towards wealth and prosperity in the form of free WiFi. The
first time we see any of them above ground in the light, is when they're working and
making money. Of course, it's not a high paying job and they end up right back underground
doing their best to celebrate this small victory when served the reminder of their position
by a drunk pissing and puking in the alley right outside their window. Until Min arrives
as a literal beacon of light, a beacon of metaphorical hope; who takes a stand when
the Kim's would not. \b\par \b0 He brings with a scholar's stone as a
present to the family, a symbol of wealth and the physical manifestion of Ki-woo's dream
of climbing out of poverty. In the following scene where Min offers Ki-woo the tutoring
job, we see behind him a path leading up towards the light. And each shot in the following
sequence follows his journey upward, leaving behind the sights and sounds of the low income
neighbordhood at the bottom, all the way up until he reaches paradise. \par
He works his way to the upper-most level of the house, the peak of the mountain, and successfully
completes his infiltration of the Park family. And as we follow him downward on his way out
of the house, at the exact moment he gets the idea to involve his sister, the camera
swings down before cutting to a reverse shot right when he says her name. And once past
the barrier between their secluded paradise and the world outside, moving downward away
from the light, the parasite is able to infect its host.\par
Ki-jung's infiltration follows the same visual patterns, upward towards the light, climbing
to the top and finding her host in Da-song. And eventually moving downward into darkness
to bring in the next parasite. Ki-taek and Chung-sook both find their way in, through
more deception shown through more downward movement, until they too reach the highest
point. And once again their celebration is cut short by a drunk pissing in the street,
but this time Ki-woo responds with the vigor of a college student, with some water to wash
away the filth.\par They've made it, all four of the Kim's have
reached the highest point. And for a brief moment they get to lay back and bask in the
warmth of the sun. Until the revealing of the bunker, where we descend to the lowest
point, completely underground with no sunlight, no hope.\par
We've reached the true bottom, and we see what life is like at the lowest point, with
no real sunlight, cramped grey corridors and little in the way of food. It's more of a
prison than a home, but it's better than being dead. \par
But despite their pleas as fellow members of the needy, their very presence threatens
the Kim's position, and after accidentally killing Moon-gwang the Kim's embark on their
largest descent yet during a heavy storm, water to wash away the filth. They descend
into pure chaos, with sewage water flooding into their home and their neighbors all scrambling
to save their belongings. Again, the plea of fellow members of the needy going unanswered.
And in that darkness, surrounded by chaos and destruction, Ki-woo's dream of success
returns to him. \par The Kim's got a taste of paradise, to live
in the rich house as if it were their own before the water flushed them right back down
to the bottom. And it's hard to blame Ki-woo for clutching onto this dream, because in
the wake of the storm we see two very different realities. You either wake up to a vanity
mirror or in a crowded gym while everyone waits for food, picking out the perfect outfit
from a professionally lit closet or just grabbing anything that fits from the same pile as everyone
else. The storm itself is inevitable, its how much damage that storm causes that's completely
dependent on your status. The rich have raincoats and tents, dry towels waiting at the door
and big storm drains to collect any runoff. But the poor? They just have to wait out the
worse of it. \par \par
Money acts as a barrier, isolating you from the world outside until you're not even sure
what reality is anymore. The Park's are literally sectioned off from everything, completely
surrounded by trees with a locked gate at the bottom, they're disconnected from every
day life. I think Bong Joon-ho planted a subtle nod to this in Park Dong-ik's job, working
in virtual reality. Because they might as well be living in a virtual reality world
with access to cheat codes, and that's essentially what life for the rich can be. They have someone
to drive them around, clean their house, cook their food, raise their kids; all of the things
that everyday normal people have to do on their own on top of having a regular job or
going to school; is just outsourced to someone beneath them. \par
And this is where the idea of who the titular Parasite is, becomes blurred. The Park's need
the Kim's just as much as the other way around.\par The poor are expected to do twice as much
as the rich, for less than half as much money and are still looked down on simply because
they started with less. This system creates inherently toxic relationships because you
can't have the wealthy few living like Gods while the rest live like insects. Those on
top inevitably look down on those beneath them, ready to assume the worst in anyone
who they think might be taking advantage of them, and are always more than happy to replace
you if you ever cross the line. \par And for those on the bottom, they will inevitably
find themselves in the "us vs. them" mentality, and we all know how most human beings act
when push comes to shove. That's what desperation does, all any of the characters really want
is to create a better life for their loved ones but the inherent competitiveness of life
in the lower class will always pit people against each other and bring out the worst
in people.\par One of the interesting things that the film
takes care to illustrate is that the Kim's are fully capable and intelligent people.
They work hard, and sieze every opportunity available to them to try and raise their stature.
Both Da-hye and Ki-woo have potential in the academic world, and both Da-song and Ki-jung
have potential in the artistic world, but where the Park's can afford college prep tutors
and special therapeutic art instructors, the Kim's can't afford to send their kids to school,
so they're stuck with all of this unrealized potential. We also see a parallel in the achievements
of Chung-sook and Dong-ik. They're not unskilled workers, they're not lazy, they just don't
have the same opportunities as those above them, which means that when the storm hits,
they get hit a lot harder. \par If light represents hope, we see how even
in the harshest conditions the wealthy have a hope that can survive any darkness, while
for the poor, that same hope might be exactly what imprisons you. And if the rain represents
struggle, the storm that we all must weather; we see how the wealthy can stay dry while
everyone else gets drenched. Forced to deal with circumstances that a family like the
Park's would never understand.\par
Min acts as the bridge between both worlds, a messenger of hope with a gift in tow that
promises a brighter future for the Kim family. He's willing to descend to their level, but
it's clear that he's coming from a much different background. \par
\par Everything about the clothing and hairstyling
is used to indicate their stature as a family in the lower class, even their smell gives
them away. (they smell the same) Because a wolf in sheep's clothing still smells like
a wolf, and all Ki-woo has ever dreamed of is changing that.\par
But some things never change, and that dream that once lifted you up can come back to haunt
you. \par The following scene is an eruption of chaos
within what we thought to be paradise, but we now see that no one is safe from the carnage.
Rich or poor, we all bleed the same. And what's the point of it all? The poor eating the poor,
the poor eating the rich, it doesn't matter, all it does is create more trauma, and more
ghosts with Ki-taek now assuming the role previously held by Geun-se left to grieve
the loss of his daughter alone, and feel the weight of his guilt.\par
The Park's weren't evil, just detached from reality. All they ever wanted was the same
thing that the Kim's wanted, happiness and health for their family. But he's the easy
scapegoat because of the sheer he disgust he shows for those beneath him, even though
ultimately he's just a symptom of the larger societal problem that creates these parasitic
relationships. Because after he's gone? There's someone to come along and take his place.
A new host family, with new parasites, and the cycle continues. But Ki-woo still clings
to his dream of wealth, to buy the house and set his father free. Where this time to ascend
you don't have to lie or cheat your way to the top, "all you have to do is walk up the
stairs." \par And that's how the film ends, with a dream,
a lingering hope. While they've fallen into winter with heavy snow and limited daylight,
there's still a faint light shining in the distance.\par
\par \par
Parasite was easily my favorite film of the year, not only is it a masterwork of filmmaking
craft but it puts a spotlight on what I believe to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest
problem facing the world at large, doing so with humor and horror while being fair to
both sides of the economic spectrum. It effectively shows the struggle of the average family in
poverty, and how hard it can be to pull yourself out from underground; using symbolism and
visual language that speak to everyone universally. It's the rare kind of film that manages to
shock and entertain while asking deeper questions that effect all of us as individuals and the
world as a whole, and I couldn't be happier to see all of the praise the film has been
getting. Anyways, thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed my take on everything and
would love to hear your own interpretation of the film in the comments! \par
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