OnScreen Review: "Parasite"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
Arguably, the two biggest names to come out of the South Korean cinema renaissance of this century are Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho. They have mostly been known for international cult classics, but both have started to make films that have more widespread appeal than their earlier works. Parasite is the latest from Bong Joon Ho, his follow-up to his 2017 Netflix-released film, Okja, and it is one of his best.
All four members of the Kim family are unemployed. That begins to change when the son, Kim Ki-woo (Woo-sik Choi), gets a job working for the wealthy Park family as the English tutor of their teenage daughter, Park Da-hye (Ji-so Jung). Recognizing an opportunity, Ki-woo in short order begins to create job opportunities for his sister, Kim Ki-jung (So-dam Park) as an art therapist for the Park’s spirited and undisciplined young son Da-song (Hyun-jun Jung), his father Kim Ki-taek (Kang-ho Song) as chauffer for successful businessman Mr. Park (Sun-kyun Lee), and for his mother Kim Chung-sook (Hye-jin Jang) as a housemaid looking after the day to day whims of the bored housewife Mrs. Park (Yeo-jeong Jo).
Like most Bong Joon Ho films, Parasite is multi-faceted and a bit of a genre-bender; a dark, bubbling concoction of comedy, drama, and thriller that is loaded with social commentary. There is a stark contrast between the Kim family and the Park family. The Kims are jobless and struggling to make ends meet while living in the basement of a very dirty part of town. At one point, the family is shown returning from the Park residence to their home and it is almost all a downhill descent. They are living in the lowest of low conditions; quite literally the basement of the bottom floor of society while working for the uppermost crust of society. The Parks live a very comfortable life, residing in a home built by a famous architect, walled off from the outside world. Where the Parks are well-educated, the Kims are street smart and thus able to exploit the naivete of the Parks.
It’s a devilish treat to watch how the Kims slowly worm their way into the everyday lives of the Park family, pushing out the existing people in the Park’s employ. It’s very methodical, planned out, and executed to perfection. The Kims possess creativity and genuine talent but seem unable or unwilling to channel it into honest jobs. At the same time, the film seems to question whether the imbalances of the economic system would even allow them to succeed at honest jobs. It’s a chicken and egg conundrum that the film poses to the audience but gives no pat answers. At one point the Kim’s even comment about how nice the Parks are, to the point that they almost feel bad about lying to them about who they are, but that sentiment is quickly dismissed as their niceness being attributed to their privilege; in essence, the Parks can afford to be nice people while the Kims have to be deceptive.
Things take a turn in the second half of the film; at the peak of the Kims thinking they have pulled one over on this family of marks is when it all begins to unravel and furiously so. The film lays hints in advance that there is a shoe to drop. Initially, given my previous exposure to certain South Korean films, I thought the film was going to take a very dark turn into the realm of horror, but it just turns out that there is more about the house and people involved with the Parks than the Kims realized. Of course, this mid-movie revelation is no less bonkers than what you’d expect from a Bong Joon Ho film, and the Kims are left scrambling the rest of the film to improvise on what was a carefully crafted plan. At one point, the Kim Ki-taek, the father, observes that the best plan is no plan at all, because then it can’t fail.
As the film hints at the turn in the second half, it also hints at the conclusion of the film and the fates of some of the characters. Bong is an expert craftsman in having everything in the film have a satisfying payoff by the end, some darkly funny and others poignant. Parasite runs a gamut of emotions.
The comedy is deeply black in nature. The class warfare on display throughout the film is sharp. The thrills of the film are twisty and satisfying. It’s all distinctly Bong Joon Ho. This is a director who knows how to make movies and is in completed control of every aspect of this fine film. Parasite is one of the best, most complete films of the year thanks to writer/director Bong Joon Ho and his wonderful cast.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars