Review of Parasite (2019) by Pipec — 08 Jun 2020

Gong Joon-Ho’s ultimate genre-defying chef d'œuvre embodies class warfare and capitalist hysteria.

In Bong Joon-Ho’s game-changing social critique, the rich and the wretched descends into capitalist hell in sardonic, comical, and horribly grounded fashion. In times of cholera and uncertainty, Bong Joon-Ho’s latest and buzziest masterpiece comes like a head-turning accomplishment, a surgically accurate class fable, a truly gripping multi-genre piece of entertainment, and a reinvigorating storytelling-rich decade-new awake. Ever since its Palme d’Or win, “Parasite” has been ground-breaking new history, not only by becoming the very first non-English language, non-epic-length period drama nabbing the Best Picture award at the 2020 Oscars ceremony, but by giving new life into movie-going experience in an aging era of convoluted streaming-service battles and rowdy franchise-building tentpoles.

In a way, “Parasite” feels like the “Inception” of this new century. Back in 2010, Christopher Nolan’s towering 160-million Russian doll odyssey opened several doors industry-wise, putting the absolute, always-coveted formula into one single movie: crushing box office incomes, cerebral, wholly original storytelling, and, above else, priceless craftsmanship power. However, Nolan did not treasure any social-resounding message as sharply as Bong Joon-Ho did overseas. “Parasite”, on the other hand, is a small-budgeted, South-Korean thinking piece that, even while managing different procedures— it turned out to be more profitable than Nolan’s pic —comes to the very same conclusion: great filmmaking is the key. Social-headed slices of art would never be about big budgets and small films like “Get Out” and “The Invisible Man” are proving that studios, either big or small, may still conquer audiences with entertaining, on-point storytelling. Script-wise, “Parasite” is an utter knockout. At first glance, the most outstanding, praised features the film exposes now and again are its turns and twists, the comings and goings of a story where everything mutes into something unexpected. These “think-again” premium plot devices are the main pulling force for mainstream audiences, even though they are not the most powerful assets Joon-Ho has to offer. The truly one-of-a-kind centerpieces are: proceedings and composition. Take for instance the 5-minute towering montage at the end of the first act, where black humor, cadence and rhythm are the beating heart of the sequence. It builds and places anticipation at the highest level by using endless narrative tricks to convey the emotions and reactions the film intends to spring up, blurring the line between good and bad, between wealth and the poverty, between sarcasm and irony. Every one of the characters succeeds at becoming storytelling backbones because of the amazing ensemble cast, which— by the way —became the very first foreign Ensemble Winner at SAG Awards, making, one more time, movie history. Park So-dam, Lee Sun-kyun, Choi Woo-shik, Cho Yeo-jeong, and Song Kang-ho deliver award-worthy performances, endowing to the story tangible, three-dimensional characters that, in incompetent hands, would come out as hollow caricatures. Bong Joon-Ho’s pictures are described as many things at once: black comedies, social commentaries, genre-crossing post-apocalyptic adventures. Owning every inch of them, “Parasite” spices the mix up with deeper, timely metaphors— make no mistake, peaches and basements are not going to be the same; — however, the film owes it to two crucial aspects: visual language and edition. Camera movements, blocking and visual composition are masterfully managed by the director and his crew. It could have been a silent film, and still it would speak volumes. Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo executes his vision with perverse precision and voyeuristic delight, grabbing class divide by the throat. What could have ended up as a mere style exercise between the shady lighting from the semi-basement and the luxury LED lighting of the main mansion, it is now the perfect visual cocktail: sophistication and softness, luxury and poverty, ups and downs, dark and light, hungry beasts in empty spaces. “Gisaengchung” by Bong Joon-Ho is the crowning achievement of the decade. Many critics have healed it as “the picture of the year” and, even if it is tout à fait true, “Parasite” transcends the boundaries of society-headed, industry-transforming films; say Jordan Peele’s ambitious allegory “Us” reimagined through the lens and voices of Shakespeare, Hitchcock and Kim Ki-young, and still you are nowhere near to it. Many talented, socially-aware filmmakers and their equally committed crews have paved the way through the years; now Bong Joon-Ho, in total command of his craft, has made it: “Parasite” is a groundbreaking work of art.