Ok so Parasite follows the Kim family who end up infiltrating a wealthy elite family
under the guise of being something they're not. They very much have a parasitic relationship
with them and this is hinted at early on in the movie when we're first introduced to them.
Living in a basement home we catch them in despair as they realise that the person who's
wifi they'd been piggybacking off of had now put a password on it. However they manage
to pick up a signal in the bathroom which means they can use the free wifi from a copy
shop down the road. They're very much parasites of that wifi connection but the similarities
to a lowly life form don't stop there.
We catch them folding pizza boxes and they're very much in a symbiotic relationship with
a fast food company who require lots of hands in order to do this but they don't have the
money to take on full time members of staff. The Kims don't do the job probably and a quarter
of the boxes are unusable but the pizza company have no other option which the Kim's somewhat
play upon.
Not long after we watch workers spraying pesticide in the street and this is commonly used to
kill bugs and parasites. It blows into their basement home and this basement home of course
foreshadows some of the reveals that we get in the movie.
After realising their phones have been cut off Chung-Sook asks her husband Ki-taek what
his plan is but we never really get an answer. Later on in the film Ki-taek reveals that
it's better to not have a plan as plans always go wrong and if you don't have one then nothing
bad can happen.
This some what juxtaposes the end of the film in which the son Ki-Woo says that he's making
a plan to go to university, become successful and then buy the house so that his father
can finally come out of the basement.
I've seen a lot of back and forth over the film, namely whether this ending is something
that happens and we'll discuss why it's pretty bad news for the family later on in the video.
Now with the success of Squid Game I thought I'd revisit some Korean classics that really
show why the country is currently leading the way when it comes to TV shows and Movies.
They just seem to be adept at creating outstanding original stories that are layered with social
commentary and Parasite is no different.
The oscar winning film is layered with hidden details, things you missed and a lot of clues
that hint towards the eventual reveals that I wanna breakdown in this video.
If you enjoy it we'd massively appreciate you showing some RESPECT also don't forget
to subscribe as we do breakdowns like this each and every day.
Now the movie is Directed by Bong Joon Ho who actually got the idea for the film because
the director worked as a tutor before he started making movies. Bong Joon Ho was actually recommended
for this job by his girlfriend and he said that he used to imagine getting all of his
friends jobs within the household.
Bong Joon Ho very much said that being staffed like this is the only way that people on the
opposite side of the class system would ever actually meet and throughout the film there's
lip service paid to how people shouldn't cross the line.
The idea of recommendations is fine within this household to a point but it asks the
bigger question of what happens when this model is used in more high profile jobs. The
director stated that say if a politician gets a family member or friend a job in a high
position then they probably aren't qualified for it and we end up with a society where
our leaders aren't able to do the jobs that they're in.
This comes from the wealthy family's father Nathan Park who constantly remarks throughout
the movie that he likes people who don't cross the line. Lines are actually used throughout
the film and if you look at the window edges here you'll notice that it creates a line
in between the two characters that we see on screen. One is a house keeper whilst the
other is the wealthy wife of Nathan and the former crosses the line in order to clap and
wake the other one up.
It's very subtle and moments like this are placed throughout the movie in which a lines
and camera movements are used to show when characters cross from one side to the other.
Nathan actually says that he doesn't mind if the driver has sex in his car, what he's
angry about is him crossing the line into the back seat.
Now Park's company is actually called another Brick and this is a nod to the song another
brick in the wall by Pink Floyd. This shows how he views his staff as all being just another
brick in the wall. Walls are design to not fall down if one brick is removed and therefore
he just views people as expendable.
When talking about his staff we never really see him saying anything positive and when
discussing the first house keeper he states that she always used to eat enough for two.
This hints towards the reveal at the mid point of the film in which we find out that her
husband actually lived in the secret basement in the home's bunker and she'd sneak him meals.
When Nathan is introduced we can see the lights turning on as he walks up the stairs and as
he gets to the top they turn off. This is revealed as being carried out by Geun-Se who
lives in the basement and operates them as a sign of respect.
Now Ki-Woo gets the job after his friend who works as a family for the Parks says that
he's going to be studying abroad. Again Ki-Woo is parastic in nature as he only latches onto
the family because he uses someone else who somewhat passes him onto them.
Ki-Woo's friend presents the family with a mystical rock that is said to bring wealth
to families and it's clear that they believe it has somewhat power in it.
However, later on when the Kim's home floods we find the rock floating which indicates
that it's hollow. Not only does this explain why Ki-Woo is able to survive the blow to
the head later on but it also hints to us the hollow promises that the rock carries
with it.
Upon making it into the house Ki-Woo slowly brings his family across as they oust the
current staff so that they can take their place.
The movie is filled with staircase imagery and Bong Joon Ho stated that he put so many
through the film as they represent people travelling upwards through the class system.
Stairs are pretty much featured in almost every single scene in the film and it hammers
home the idea that there is a divide between the upper class and lower class people.
One of the most heartbreaking moments comes at the mid section when the family have to
return home to their flooded house and we watch as they wander down the stairs after
living the high life whilst the parks were away.
Ki-Taek grabs his wife silver medal and Silver is of course second place and it gives a nod
to how they are very much second class citizens.
Something that you might not have noticed is that the table within the Park's home actually
looks like a staircase itself and we watch as it ascends from the bottom to the top.
When Ki-Woo first goes to the house we can see that there are 8 chairs at the dining
table. Later on the housekeeper and her husband are discovered there are two added and this
represents the 10 people making up the 3 families in the house.
The house is absolutely incredible and we learn that it was designed by a man named
Namgoong. This is actually a nod to the character Namgoong from Snowpierecer, another of Bong
Joon Ho's work. Namgoong designed the train in the film and he was played by Song Kang-Ho
who plays Ki-Taek in this movie.
Also apologies for the pronunciation in the video. I know these aren't exactly how the
names are said and I'm not exactly doing English speakers a favour right now by butchering
them so badly, but I am trying.
Now at one point in the film the daughter of the Parks Da-hye talks about how her brother
Da-song is faking the way he acts so that his mother views him in a positive light.
This is brushed aside by Ki-Woo who is of course doing the exact same thing. He even
instructs her to use the word pretend twice in her english exam and this happens at a
point in which both he and his sister are pretending to be people they're not.
As for his sister, it's through her that we learn of his Da-Songs trauma, namely how he
saw a ghost when he was younger. He was eating birthday cake when a strange man appeared
in the house and this triggered a seizure. At the end of the film we watch his birthday
party once more in which the man returns and this earlier scene sets up why things happen
the way that they do.
Hilariously her mother Chung Sook says that she'd be a great con artist if she wanted
to be but she very much is in the movie.
Now the Parks are played as the innocents in the film but they have their own prejudices
and snobbery that sort of shows how they view lower class people. Nathan can't stand the
smell of the poor and he remarks that Mr. Kim has an odor like the underground. This
has it's own subtext to it as the underground is of course something that is beneath the
surface and one must travel down to get there.
Mrs. Park also isn't that innocent either and though she says that she will pay Ki-Woo
more after his first session you can actually catch her skimming off the top and taking
away some of the cash that she was initially going to pay him.
I believe that this was actually the salary that she paid Ki-Woos friend and she realised
that she could get away with paying him less so just decided to take it out.
After they return home from the camping trip, she asks for Ram-don to be made which is a
combination of two meals typically loved by kids. The meal is popular amongst the poor
and rich but Mrs Parks can't have her son eating what she views as commoner food so
she has sirloin steak added to it in order to ramp it up a bit.
Now Ki-Taek has some of my favourite scenes in the film and a lot of them are laced with
subtext. He becomes the family driver and the relationship that he has with the parks
is very symbolic. There is very much a barrier between the front and back seat of the car
and he is pretty much driving and doing all the work whilst they relax in the back.
There's even a point where Mrs Park is sat putting her feet up whilst Ki-Taek drives
the car and she chats away to her friends whilst he has to sit in silence. It's very
much painting out the metaphor that the ones doing the work are silenced and they have
to put all the effort into things whilst the wealthy elite can just relax.
They are very much living a completely different life to the poor and not subjected to the
same issues that they are. Mrs Parks at one point says that the rain was a blessing as
it meant that they could return home from camping. However it completely devastates
the Kim household and means that they have to sleep in the gym along with the rest of
the poor.
There are some amazing accompanying shots such as the housekeeper vomiting in the basement
toilet whilst the sewage vomits out of the toilet at the Kims.
Mrs Park also takes her time in choosing clothes from her vast and expansive wardrobe whilst
the poor have to fight over them in the gym after their homes were devastated.
We can also catch Ki-Woo texting the next day and his hand has an imprint on it due
to holding the Rock throughout the night.
Now this reveal at the mid point of the movie is pretty breakneck and the entire feeling
of the movie shifts after the doorbell rings. This actually happens at the exact mid point
of the movie and it was also exactly in the middle of the script.
We see the cut security camera and this happens at the mid point of the movie as well. However
it also sets up the ending as it explains how Ki-Taek is able to escape into the house
without being caught.
He very much takes the position of Guen-Se who is one of my favourite characters for
all the wrong reasons.
We learn that he's hiding because he got in so much debt due to his company Taiwanese
Castella. In the movie there's a line about how Ki-Taek was a driver for them and there
is potential that he somewhat was instrumental in his downfall.
It's such a creepy portrayal and we learn that he's been sending messages through More
Code which Ki-Taek also does at the end of the movie in order to send something to his
son.
Now the tragedy is that the families could work together and live this life comfortably
for a long time. However the Kims are very much people that will climb to the top of
the stairs and kick other people down and thus the entire thing is blown open when Guen
Se escaped.
He has spent years in the basement and upon exiting it we can see that his pupils are
massively dilated. He comes out, stabs Ki-Jung and then Chong Sook stabs him in retaliation.
However when it's clear that Nathan doesn't care about his daughter or her death, the
wincing at his smell triggers him and Ki-Taek stabs him too. He then retreats into the basement
and due to the morse code signals we learn that he's lying low there indefinitely.
His son is arrested and along with his mother they're found guilty of fraud. Ki-Woo goes
to look at the house and this shot over is actually a reference to a painting by Peter
Doig called The Architect's Home in the Ravine.
Ki-Woo makes a plan to become rich so that he can buy the house and finally embrace his
father. Just before this he puts the rock in some water and it doesn't float, showing
that this is a fantasy. His plan is to simply work hard and get rich after going to Uni
which if you're over the age of 30 then you probably know that it isn't as easy as that.
Now whilst people have gone back and forth over whether the scene will come true or not,
unfortunately if you stay for the credits then you'll know that it doesn't happen.
The song that plays over them is actually sung by Choi Woo-shik who plays Ki-Woo in
the movie.
In it he pretty much sings the song of what happens after the film namely how he gets
a job doing back-breaking manual labour. He says that it would take over 500 years to
earn enough money to buy the house but it is quite upbeat and he thinks he will do it.
Anyway it ends this amazing film and obviously I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in the
comments below. If you enjoyed the video then don't forget to subscribe and I hope you click
the thumbs up too.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of all the
hidden details in Squid Game which will be linked on screen right now.
It's one of the best videos we've ever made so definitely go and watch it after this.
If not then thanks for checking this out, I hope you have a good week, take care, Peace.