Please go catch the movie in the cinema before it ends its run. The next day, the Kim family is invited back to the Parks as they decide to throw a birthday party for Da-song. But yet, we cant help but to sympathise with the protagonist family as we witness first-hand their destitute plight and desperation to climb out of squalor. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. Your email address will not be published. The film is packed with social commentary, thrilling moments, and plenty of meaty writing worthy of a full Parasite movie analysis. The real deception is carried out by the Kims, and it works flawlessly. It is a rather short-sighted one on his part because not only does Ki-woo end up pursuing Da-hye, but he ruins any possible opportunity to tutor for the Park family again. It is a tonal juggling act that first feels like a satirea comedy of manners that bounces a group of lovable con artists off a very wealthy family of awkward eccentrics. You would think that maybe before you hire someone else, you stop to think if maybe your household staff is disappearing faster than usual? And then everything changes. It's a movie of extraordinary cunning and devastating . She takes great pride in her work as a housekeeper, and loses her job unexpectedly after the Kims make her peach allergy look like active tuberculosis. Get entertainment recommendations for your unique personality and find out which of 5,500+ The crimes of Moon-kwang and her husband are obvious too, leeching off the Park familys wealth to harbour the husband in the house, and threatening to out the Kims for their scam despite their own complicity. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or find something interesting to read. Min-hyuk offers Ki-woo his tutoring job while he's away noting that the family of the girl he tutors is not necessarily the best judge of character. Seeing an opportunity to get his artistically talented sister, Ki-jung, a job, Ki-woo says that he knows someone named "Jessica" who went to college in Illinois, who might be perfect for the job. They fold pizza boxes for a delivery company to make some cash, steal wi-fi from the coffee shop nearby, and leave the windows open when the neighborhood is being fumigated to deal with their own infestation. Following the films major twist, Parasite continues in a far darker tone until its ending. The rest of the family hides as Chung-sook lets her in and Moon-gwang reveals a bunker in the basement of the house, a lair that was installed by the architect who built it, and which even the Parks have no knowledge of. Bong Joon-ho displays a mastery over genres and tones with this mid-point shift. Be sure to watch our video essay on the scene for more detail and deeper Parasite analysis. Relationship Status involved with his student Da-Hye. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Grew up. Yes, he receives help from Ki-jeong and Ki-woo with the peaches, but he is the one who must do the talking afterward. In truth, Ki-Jung never received any college art education, but she now claims to be a graduate of the University of Illinois and a specialist in children's art therapy, working at a special pay rate. Grew up as an art student at a middle-class family. Yeon-gyo is a well-meaning mother and wife, but she's rather gullible. as an art student at a middle-class family. For his family members' employment, Ki-Woo manipulates the Parks into firing their original chauffeur and housekeeper without much thought about what will happen next. Ki-woo is what really gets the Kim family through the Park family's door. Acting on impulse, Ki-woo heads to a mountain near the house the Parks have since vacated, and which now belongs to a rich German family. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Parasite by Bong Joon-ho. It speaks wonders to Parasites accessibility that it was received so well with such widely varying viewers. He spoils his son and is rather alienated from his desires and happiness. Parasite study guide contains a biography of Bong Joon-ho, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. While attending a birthday party for the Parks young son, Da-song (Jung Hyeon Jun), Ki-woo heads to the bunker carrying a heavy scholar stone he once received as a gift intended to bring his family material wealth. Characters from Parasite (2019). The film constantly threatens to come apartto take one convoluted turn too many in ways that sink the projectbut Bong holds it all together, and the result is breathtaking. One night, as the Parks are away on a camping trip to celebrate Da-songs birthday, the Kims break into the liquor cabinet and lounge in the Parks living room getting drunk and discussing their newfound comfort and the precarious situation. I interpreted the fortune rock as a satirical symbol of the Kim familys burdens and guilt at the circumstances, literally weighing down Ki-woo and revealing his presence as he drops it when sneaking up on Moon-kwang and her husband. What ensues from this point on is a chaotic, discordant frenzy, where the tension set from the moment we discover the hidden bunker never eases. The only thing I can think of is that the original housekeeper was in contact with the original tutor of the family. Chung-sook is framed as deceiving the family by hiding a dangerous illness. Grew up in a middle-class home that was neither poor nor terribly wealthy. Parasite is seamless in the way it shuffles moods, tones and genres, and downright Hitchcockian in the way it manipulates your sympathies. Ki-woo, the son, is gifted a scholars stone or suseok by a friend and given a recommendation for a tutoring job with a wealthy family. Blood is shed and deaths are cast at the birthday party of the Park familys youngest child. The Kim family is destroyed; Ki-jung is killed, Ki-woo is left brain-damaged, and Ki-taek is forced into hiding after he snaps and acts out a classism-driven murder in the chaos of the birthday party. Their quest for upward mobility is futile. Dont buy eggs. Through the analysis of the audio-visual language of the movie, this article starts with the storytelling of Parasite, enumerates and analyses the elements that appear in the movie to reflect the gap between the rich and poor. More importantly, his failure to dispose of Geun-sae with the rock eventually proves to be not only his undoing but both the Park and Kim families alike. Youve never seen a movie quite like Parasite. Dammit. Parasite was not just the first South Korean film to win the foreign language prize at the Oscars but also the first foreign language film from any country to win the overall best picture prize. Parasite Character List Ki-woo Ki-woo is the son of the Kim family, a smart and ambitious young man who feels held back by poverty. Just as he called Snowpiercer his film about class revolution set in a dystopia his "hallway movie," he has called Parasite his "stairway movie." It is an upstairs-downstairs film that. Thats all for my in-depth analysis! For years the country has been producing some of the finest films and directors in the world of cinema, but Parasite has crossed new milestones in terms of global impact. Moon-kwang eventually succumbs to a concussion, leading to her husband desperately smashing his head into the light switches in the bunker to signal Help me in Morse code. Im sure we all notice that the people around us have their own unique smells, but our minds and senses are bogged down with so much information as adults that we tend to dismiss tiny details like this. Ki-taek and Chung-sook, the patriarch and matriarch, are having trouble finding employment, and their children, Ki-woo and Ki-jung are trying to help in whatever way they can. With a run-time of 2hrs 15mins that you would barely notice due to the amazing pacing of the film, the film moves seamlessly through its different genres and settings without missing a beat. Parasite director Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean filmmaker to win best director at the academy awards. As their house party goes on and the rain pours down relentlessly, the doorbell suddenly rings its the old housekeeper that Mrs Kim had displaced. Moon-Gwang has been living in the mansion as the architect's housekeeper since it was first built. Working with the incredible cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong (Burning, Snowpiercer) and an A-list design team, Bong's film is captivating with every single composition. Equally impressive was Parasite becoming the first South Korean movie to win the Palme dOr, which is the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. *SPOILER WARNING* Major, major spoilers ahead! If not for the homicidal tendencies of the Kim family, she may well have lasted longer. She is easily deceived by Ki-jeong's framing of the Park family chauffeur as explained by Dong-ik. He has good intentions, even if he is dishonest about how he achieves success, and just wants to create a better life for his family. Even though the film audience is treated to a scene of this happening, it is never confirmed whether it does as we ambiguously end the film back in the Kims tiny basement apartment and Ki-woo writing the letter. The film starts with the Kim family, a South Korean family struggling with poverty in a poor neighborhood in an unnamed city. Despite their circumstances, you never get the sense that theres any animosity or resentment between them; only a shared discontentment for their living and financial situation. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Living in a state-of-art mansion. to infiltrate rooms in . At the start of the film, we are introduced to the Kims, a family struggling to live under impoverished conditions. With Ki-jeong dead, Ki-woo, recovering from brain damage, obsessively returns to observe the house from afar. Ki-taek, who acted upon his anger, still remains beneath another rich family. Suddenly, the Kims fall down the stairs of the bunker in a pile, after listening in on the conversation. Some time ago, she and her husband purchased the beautiful mansion from its architect. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist,The New York Times, and Rolling Stone,and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. The next day, Mrs. Park calls each of them in to work on Da-song's birthday party, which will take place on the lawn. Living in a musty semi-basement in the slums of Seoul, South Korea. Couldnt she have chosen to do so in broad daylight? The metaphorical themes are presented in as literal a way as possible with the act of this stabbing. After their home is flooded, Ki-taek tells his son that it is best to never have a plan, since plans never work out the way one expects. The argument between the two families becomes violent, with the Kims temporarily coming out on top. The film continues with Ki-woos narration. Parasite exploded this past weekend on Oscar night when it became the first international film to win four Academy Awards, including the coup de grace, Best Picture. The cinematography was also amazing. Parasite broke a number of financial records as well, including the highest foreign film opening weekend of all time for the UK box office, and a number of records with the Indie Box Office. The director even created a hash tag to warn people not to spoil the movie for others. Not only does she completely fall for Ki-woo's masquerading as an English tutor to Da-hye, but she proceeds to hire every other member of the Kim family without doing very much due diligence. Managing to never get caught up to that point, though, was definitely a feat on its own merits, even if it was in a basement. This is especially impressive given how ethnocentric the Academy Awards often unfold, prioritizing English-language films over foreign-language films much of the time. Scott Myers 41K Followers Follow More from Medium Scott Myers in Go Into The Story Relationship Status single without any signs of romance. When a writer does their best, digging deep into their characters, tapping into their souls, the players in our stories magically lift up off the printed page and come to life in a readers imagination. Cho Yeo-jeong Parasite catapulted him to a different level of fame, earning him not only the first Academy Award for Best Picture to go to an international film, but also a unanimously-decided-upon Palme d'Or at Cannes. Before long, mom and dad are in the Park house too, and it seems like everything is going perfectly for the Kim family. In his art, Da-song perfectly captures the mans relentless gaze, and even his receding hairline. Mr Kim and his children continue to hide under the living room coffee table as Da-song camps outside in the lawn, determined to have his birthday camping trip and probably fearful of returning to the house on his birthday. This vertical comment on status is illustrated cleanly in this alternate poster for the film, without spoiling the sub-basement reveal. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Read the script for the award-winning foreign film and analyze all week. The Parks go on a camping trip for Da-song's birthday, leaving the house empty. Da-song was perhaps the only hope the Park family had and still they collapsed. account. Since then, the Park family had never spent Da-songs birthday in the house. Parasite tells a story about disparate families, but also about disparate social classes, who are scrambling in a society that doesn't set them up to be protagonists and by default, pushes . Required fields are marked *. I would LOVE to hear from other viewers on their theories on the film, so please feel free to share them with me. "Parasite" displays the world of the impoverished and the hypocrisy of capitalist "laws." The family lives in abject povertyfirst trying to survive through the precarious work of folding pizza boxes and then finding a hustle by pretending to be middle class, educated and helpful. Bong shows us this vision: Ki-taek ascends the bunker stairs and embraces his son. These two powerhouse awards ceremonies rarely overlap and are comprised of entirely different audiences and judges and with entirely different viewing criteria and preferences. Ki-jeong manages to gain the trust of the young Da-song, and was even the last person to show compassion towards Moon-kwang and her husband, offering to bring them food when theyre trapped in the basement. Parasite concludes where it begins, in the semi-basement apartment. Ki-woo and his sister Ki-jung forge credentials for the job, and thus begins the long-con that sees each member of the Kim family infiltrating the upper-class Park family one-by-one. When folding the pizza boxes during the fumigation, he is the most determined (cockroach-like behaviour, as explained above) but also the most careless with his actions. Their credentials were just as questionable as hers were. "Korean dramas vary in terms of theme; from non-violent stories to very dynamic and violent stories." (Parc, J., & Moon, H.-C., 2013). Ki-Jung's family was much better off in her childhood when her father owned a cake shop. Josh Weber is a cinephile and avid reader based in the eastern shore of Maryland. Its here where we can finally analyse who is the parasite in the film, and who are the antagonists? An American DIY Film Movement, When is Golden Hour? Parasite has a cynical view of how class operates in a capitalist society, but as Bong has said, its also painfully realistic. 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