This video was brought to you by Audible. Head over to audible.com/filmradar or text
filmradar to 500 500 to get a free audiobook, two free Audible Originals from a curated
list, and a 30 day free trial!\par 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 Thank you to Audible for sponsoring this video.
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