Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite"
is a virtually perfect film on every level.
On the surface, its technical execution
is so precise and immaculate
that it's hard to notice the film's greatest achievement
hiding underneath:
the screenplay.
For Bong, who has written every single film in his career,
"Parasite" is essentially a culmination
of everything he's learned over the years.
But in its more than two hours of runtime,
there is a single moment
that truly exemplifies his genius,
a sequence that transforms "Parasite"
into cinematic perfection.
[doorbell rings]
Like all great stories, "Parasite" has
a beginning, a middle, and an end,
yet it never quite follows the usual
three-act structure we're familiar with.
Instead, the film plays a lot like two separate movies
that are joined into one.
The first film deals with the two families:
the impoverished Kims, who plan to infiltrate
the wealthy Parks by each posing as a tutor,
a driver, and a housekeeper.
But it creates an odd moment in the story
about 50 minutes in,
after the Kims have removed all of the existing employees
to essentially take over the house.
Suddenly, there's no conflict left to carry the film,
and the story comes to a literal stop.
But it's the sequence that bridges
the end of the first film to the unexpected second
where Bong stages his attack.
Let's take a look.
Bong begins the sequence by visually establishing
the Kims' false sense of success,
having dedicated an entire previous sequence
to show the Kims reaping the rewards of their scheme.
But he does it most effectively with
a simple parallel image using a window,
a motif of luxury that was introduced
earlier in the film.
The Kims, who had previously been subjected to the views
of ordinary life outside their basement apartment,
discover privacy as a form of luxury.
Yet, despite all of this, their success
is only downplayed by their dialogue,
which emphasizes just how far they are from it.
Bong keeps the dialogue engaging
by faking out three moments of tension
that gradually build over time.
These moments are known as beats in a dialogue.
Each beat organically interrupts and changes the flow
and the topic of conversation.
Until it seemingly explodes on the third beat.
[glass shatters]
[both laughing]
[doorbell rings]
It's no coincidence that this doorbell
marks the exact midpoint of the screenplay,
appearing on page 71 out of a 141-page script.
It's a sound that signifies the end of the first film
and what Bong refers to as "the real start of the film."
It's a brilliantly foreboding moment
after a series of peaceful sequences.
The audience is aware that something is about to go wrong,
they just aren't sure what it is.
This is probably the best moment to talk about
the films that inspired "Parasite."
Bong has mentioned several,
and the most obvious is Kim Ki-young's 1960 film
"The Housemaid," which features a similar story
about a poor maid infiltrating the rich.
But thematically, its most interesting inspiration
comes from Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film
"High and Low,"
one of the first films that used height
as a visual representation of class,
with the rich towering above
and the poor living underneath.
"Parasite" expands upon this idea
through another visual motif introduced earlier:
stairs.
On second viewing, it's incredible to see
how vertical the film is
right from its opening image.
Whenever a character climbs a flight of stairs,
it's a visual symbol of the rise in the social class,
while the walk down suggests the opposite.
Just like the window, it's this very sequence
where Bong starts to take advantage
of all the visual concepts he set up earlier,
and it's the reason why we feel so uneasy
in a moment like this.
The film that most heavily inspired "Parasite"
is probably Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho."
The two films share a surprising number of similarities.
Both mainly feature a house
that almost becomes a character itself,
the architecture guiding the film
and sometimes hiding the truth in plain sight
on another level.
And, most importantly, the game-changing twist midway
was also done most popularly by Hitchcock in "Psycho,"
who killed his main character
exactly halfway through the film.
What makes the twist in "Parasite" so great
is that it's as predictable
as it is impossible to see coming.
The basement in question is featured
only twice in the film
for less than a minute
before its actual role is revealed.
But it's a twist that doesn't feel out of question,
as we've seen it happen already,
just through the eyes of another family.
The truth finally reveals itself.
And Bong expertly reveals the twist
strictly from the Kims' perspective
through a handheld camera.
As the lighting, camera, tempo,
and even the genre of the film changes,
what awaits at the end of the tunnel
is an entirely different film.
All in 10 minutes of a sequence.
What makes "Parasite" so perfect
is that it understands the rules and power of storytelling.
Everything on screen has a specific purpose
and a meaning that transforms the story as it unpacks.
And it's ironic that, as brilliant as Bong's plan
for the story is, the genius of "Parasite"
lies in the 10-minute sequence
where an entire plan is demolished on sight.