There is a lot of buzz surrounding the South Korean film
Parasite
Previously known for The Host and Snowpiercer
Director Bong Joon-ho has a knack for creating genre films
And making them feel like art pieces
And with Parasite
He continues to prove his talent and status
As one of the greatest living directors
The best part is
Bong's directorial style is simple, direct and often very blunt
Basic but highly effective
That makes his films excellent case studies for young filmmakers
And film students
That's what we are going to do today
Let's look at Parasite
And how Director Bong Joon-ho
Through his mastery on the basic language of cinema
Elevates his film into art house classics
Before we start
I highly recommend you go watch this film first
It is still in cinema around the world
I'll try not to spoil any major events in the film
But it's definitely worth it to go in with no prior knowledge
Got it?
First, a quick summary
Parasite is a 2019 South Korean dark comedy crime thriller
The film follows the exceptionally poor Kim family
And the story of them scamming their way into being hired by a rich family
It's simple, if not pulp-y set up for a film about class struggle
But If you actually watch Bong's film
It feels nothing like a pulp fiction
In fact, it feels quite artistic
How did he do that?
First, There's the cinematography
Mainly the movement and the angle of the camera
The film opens with a shot of the window close to the ground
And it sinks even further down to introduce our character
Right away, you know he is from a poor family
The camera is literally showing you that this man is living lower than the low
It appears to be one of Bong's favourite techniques
And it is used extensively in Snowpiercer
Although in that film, it's left and right
With characters moving to the right as a sign of progress
Anyway, the film continues
And we see him trying to connect to wifi from surrounding shops
Notice how the camera is situated slightly higher than the character
And pointing downward, just a little
This makes the character appears smaller
And thus, weaker
Basic cinematography
While basic
Bong uses these techniques with obsessive consistency
Later, when the son is about to get hired
He walks up the hill
And in between these two shots
First looking down
And then looking up
It marks the transition for the character
When he set foot into the rich household for the first time
The camera moves up and points up at the character
As if he is ascending into higher social status
The camera can just as easily films him from the front
And you get the added bonus of seeing the actor's facial performance
But Bong chose to maintain consistency
And films from behind
Seeing the character walking into the light
Light is another basic element of cinematography
And in Bong's films, the use of light is just as blunt and simple
Either there is light
Or there isn't
Not much nuance, but the intend is always clear
See when the son heads out to the rich family
In this shot, he is quite literally walking into the light
When he is up the hill, he also stays at the brightest part of the image
All this leads to him walking into the house
And the light is so bright
It just floods the entire frame
Hell, you don't even see the house at first
You just see the blinding light of a bright future
By utilizing these basic but important techniques
The film tells its story and theme not just via actions and dialogues
But also visually, metaphorically
That sets this film apart from the mass produced entertainment film
Now that we know about all three techniques
Let's take a look at this sequence
It's storming outside
And the family has to run back home
What did the camera do?
It once again, sinks down to the bottom
You can see the camera either points down
Or remains level
Except this shot
The poor family discovers their home has been flooded by sewage
In a moment of defeat
There is clarity
For this one shot shows the character... truly empowered
Finally, the family leaves their home
And the camera is shot at the highest angle possible
Looking straight down
Showing the characters at their smallest
Weakest
Most insignificant
Equally important is the mise-en-scene
What and where things are placed in each shot
For example
In this shot, the son character meets with his friend
See how both roads on screen a going uphill
And they are meeting at the low point?
The motif of high vs low is maintained even when the camera is leveled and static
Consistency
It is so consistent
It's even a bit comical
In the rain sequence
Every shot in the family's journey home
They never once go up hill
The road is always leading downward
As if the entire city is built vertically
Of course, that isn't the only motif in the film
Another motif is, "the line"
"But he crossed the line at the end"
This line that separates the rich from the poor
Manifests itself a few times on screen
When the son first see the lady of the rich family
We have this shot
This line created by two panels of window glasses
Separates the common folks from the rich lady
The poor son and the housekeeper on one side
The lady on the other
Notice when the housekeeper wakes up the lady
How she seems very reluctant to cross this line
This line continues for the next few shots
Slicing the screens in half here
And here
And when they ascend the stairs
Walking into the light again, by the way
The pillar splits them still
Even when they are walking together
The lines on the ceiling and the floor separate them
Finally, the son manages to impress the lady
And we have this shot
The camera moves
The son crosses over
This line would reappear and disappear a few times
Depending on whether or not the poor family is accepted into the rich household
And finally, at the end
When the son is having an inner struggle
Split between his forged rich persona
And poor identity
We have this shot
Simple, blunt, yet direct
An effective way to bring poetry into your film
But beyond all these fancy schmancy poetries and metaphors
There is one even more basic approach to make your film artistic
Just make it look good
Spend the effort
Be creative
How do you film a dialogue scene?
Do you just do the boring old over the shoulder back and forth?
You can definitely do that
Bong does it, too
But he also puts his characters side by side
Do the characters have a connection?
Cut between them if they don't
Show them in one frame if they do
Use perspective to your advantage
Putting your characters at the vanishing point is always a strong composition
Create depth through layering
Foreground
Midground
Background
Even in the smallest space
Depth is always an option
Be dynamic
Go wide with your wides
Get close with your close ups
Hell, go wide with your close ups
At least you are doing something different
Film it straight on
Film it from the side
Film it from the top
Go slow motion
Whatever you do
Don't settle with the standard formula
Is Bong and his cinematographer geniuses
For coming up with all these beautiful shots?
Maybe
Maybe not
Because gifted or not
You are going to have to spend a lot of time designing and perfecting every shot
In short
There is no easy way to elevate your film into art house status
The real question is
Do you have the patience to do it?
Hopefully, now you enjoy the film even more
Without going into spoilers
It's hard to do a story analysis
Maybe one day, I'll come back to this film
But for now, I'll say this
This is not Bong's first time tackling the theme of class struggles
But compared to the relatively black and white Snowpiercer
Or straight up painting the government as evil
Parasite is certainly much more nuance in tackling the subject
Showing much more on how and why people commit acts of evil
"The sky is clear and the air is clean"
"Thanks to the rain last night"
And let's you decide who's the villain of the story
Yes
The blunt and direct writer director
Is learning how to be nuance
If one of our top living directors are still learning
My fellow filmmakers and film students
We should probably pick up the slack, too
Let's all make good movies