Parasite - 2019
Sometimes the hype machine is just that - hype. Empty nonsense peddled by the powers that be in an effort to aid in our consumption. BUT. Sometimes the hype is real, and I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that the hype surrounding Parasite is entirely earned. It really is that good. It will sit in your mind for days after viewing, growing on you and pushing your thoughts forward.
What is so remarkable about Parasite? To begin, the film blends so many different genres adroitly. It borrows from a host of other pictures while feeling wholly original and important in THIS time. In turns, Parasite is a darkly humorous comedy of manners, a tense thriller in the Hitchcockian vein, a richly layered social satire, and much more. It is both epic and universal in scale, and almost a chamber piece with the collision of two families from different worlds. This is a universal movie about class warfare and economic disparity which cuts right through any language or cultural barriers.
So, I suppose what I'm really saying is - you have all this high-minded artsy "stuff" occurring, but the film is also really fun. It never ceases to be anything but entirely engaging and...amusing. It's a total cat and mouse game, where the poor, scheming Kim family somehow manage to infiltrate the wealthy, and not all that astute, Park clan. Posing as art psychologists and high school tutors, valets and housekeepers, they worm their way into the Park's lives and manage to extract great sums of money from them. The Kim's are resourceful and hard-working, yet conniving, dishonest, and, as it will turn out, desperate. Conversely, the Park's are presented as being a bit lazy, rather clueless of their surroundings, and yet ultimately, if not good, at least moral.
See, what is so great about Parasite is that it provides trenchant social commentary without ever being "preachy." In fact, once the interloper enters the tale, questions of just who is the "parasite" and who is the "host" are not as clear cut as they once seemed. As the third act comes into play, this glorious blending of "Art" and "Entertainment" reaches its apex. And, because Bong Joon Ho has so skillfully conveyed tension, humor and heartbreak in equal measure to this point, the finale entirely earns its plot revelations.
Finally, the performances are great from top to bottom, but allow me to return once more to the aforementioned abilities of Parasite's director. Not only does Joon Ho know how to create engaging pictures with something to say, he also has a tremendous eye for this work. Several shots will simply blow you away. A sequence in particular which stuck with me features the camera following the Kim family home across town. It is like a 90 second viewing of income brackets, as members trudge from wealthy lawns to lesser homes down back alleys and landscapes into the slums where they reside. I find this kind of visual poetry to be exquisite and rare. When you can combine suspense, smarts, high art, real drama, and a tremendous eye in one package. Yeah, the hype is real.
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