Parasite; Movie Review #2
Oshun Cortez (He/Him)
Editorial Team Member
As I purchased the Criterion Collection movie of Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho, I started to think about this movie and the symbolism that went into this film and the thought that goes into this film. Parasite talks about the classism that Kim Ki-Woo’s family has to go through. Each member of the family starts to invade the Park’s, a rich family that are blinded by the comfort of their own world of money and status.
Symbolism and meaning is shot throughout every frame of the movie that was thought about very carefully and was explained in the novel, Parasite: A Graphic Novel in Storyboards. Director Bong uses lines as a means of separation of the rich from the poor and the crossing of boundaries. The use of stairs and hills to express the climb and fall of the social status that South Korea sets. Color strives in which the expression that may not be shown through the characters, but will be seen through the frame and color. How the scene is shown also shows the status of characters: separation, isolation, togetherness, and much more.
Despite everything, I’m glad that this movie was directed by a South Korean actor and takes place in South Korea rather than any other place. I’ve talked to many people about this, but never understood the resemblance that can be shown from the movie and South Korean culture. South Korea is considered to be a social status structure that is heavily dependent on your every move. Social status runs deep into their history and culture, which has never stopped. Similar to the United States, colleges are also competitive, but not as much as South Korea. Entrance exams are considered to be incredibly hard, as college is considered to be the stamp on where you will stand in life. Many other things can come into place, such as marriage, last name, job occupation, and much more. But that can be a lot to explain, so putting in the two most important is what can set up an idea that sets on the symbolism of the movie.
Parasite is very deserving of the 2019 Academy Award for Best Picture, but it started a debate among many film enthusiasts. On one hand, having a foreign film win is considered irrational to some extent due to the fact that foreign films shouldn’t be nominated for Best Picture. Others believed that it shouldn’t matter what language a movie should be in, and rather the approach and execution it had performed is what should matter. Even after Parasite’s win, many movie enthusiasts will still have the same ideology of those who do not watch movies just because it isn’t in a language that they can’t speak, which I feel is an idiotic excuse to not watch a film that shows the beauty of humanity all around the world.