“Parasite”– Movie Review

This past weekend at the 57th New York Film Festival, I attended the New York Premiere of “Parasite”, directed by Bong Joon Ho. 

Synopsis

When a poor family becomes employed by a wealthy family, what impact will this have on both families?   

Story

In Korea, The Kim family is very poor and The Park family is quite wealthy.  They don’t yet know each other, but soon, their lives will intersect in a way none of them could possibly predict. Currently, The Kim family collectively work folding boxes for a large pizza chain; they do not make much money, especially when many of their boxes are rejected for being sub-standard.  The son Ki-woo is rather bright; a good student, he wasn’t able to go to college because it was beyond what the family could afford. His friend Min is luckier; he’s in college and works as a tutor for Da-hye, The Parks’ daughter. Unfortunately, he has to study abroad and can no longer tutor her, so he recommends Ki-woo for the job.

The Parks also have a young son, Da-song, who likes to draw and paint pictures.  Mrs. Park wants to hire an art teacher for him as she believes him to be a prodigy; Ki-woo recommends his sister Ki-jung, but doesn’t tell Mrs. Park they’re related.  Mrs. Park hires Ki-jung and is quite pleased with the results. When Mr. Park has to fire his chauffeur, he seeks desperately for a replacement. Ki-jung is more than happy to recommend someone – but unknown to Mr. Park, she is recommending her father, Ki-taek.  Overall, Mr. Park is quite pleased with Ki-taek so he hires him full-time as the new family driver. Eventually, Ki-taek is able to convince Mrs. Park that their long-time housekeeper is suffering from a contagious disease and the entire family is in serious danger.  Mrs. Park unceremoniously fires her housekeeper as a result; when the family now looks to hire a new housekeeper, Ki-taek refers Mr. Park to Chung-sook … who just so happens to be Ki-taek’s wife (but Mr. Park doesn’t need to know that). Chung-sook, of course, is hired, too.

By now, the entire Kim family is working for the entire Park family in one form or another.  Life is good for both families. The Kims feel that what The Parks don’t know won’t hurt them.  On the day of their little boy’s birthday, The Parks decide to take a family camping trip; with the entire Park family away for the day and not returning until sometime tomorrow, The Kims take this opportunity to have the run of their house.  They enjoy all of the amenities, including drinking The Parks liquor and eating their food.  In the midst of their bacchanalia, The Kims are interrupted by a guest: the housekeeper who was fired in favor of Mrs. Kim – she claims that in the chaos of her dismissal, there was something she forgot and must retrieve immediately. Against her better judgment, Mrs. Kim lets her in – but it is only then that she learns of the insidious secret the housekeeper has been keeping from The Parks.  However, the housekeeper also learns of The Kims’ secret and threatens to reveal to The Parks that they have been hoodwinked by this family. Since The Kims hope to keep their jobs, can they find a way to keep the housekeeper from ratting them out to The Parks?

Review

Earlier this year, “Parasite” won the Cannes Film Festival’s coveted Palme d’Or award.  It’s easy to understand why it won after seeing the film because it’s so unusual, most people probably have never seen anything quite like it before.  But there’s a major caveat: the movie may not be for everyone. The reason why is because “Parasite” starts off appearing to be a lighthearted comedy but it makes an abrupt tonal change; in the third act, it becomes not merely serious, but also sinister, violent and ultimately extremely troubling.  This unexpected turn is something that may not be appreciated by some viewers as the sudden shift can be quite unsettling.

For all of its laughs, “Parasite” confronts a very serious subject:  it’s the economy, stupid. The risk it takes is assuming a firm political stance, one that some might regard as socialist.  Conspicuous consumption, the movie seems to state, is unacceptable while others are suffering. If that’s the case, then it would appear that Bong Joon Ho and Bernie Sanders would get along just fine, thank you:  they share the same mindset that capitalism is only working for the very wealthy. The rich family comes off as being blithely unaware of the situation the poor family is in and as a result, lack compassion for them.  On the other hand, the poor family can’t quite wrap their head around the indifference the wealthy family has for them, and as a result resents them.               

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Bong Joon Ho and some of the cast (one of whom brought out a basketful of peaches – you’ll have to see the movie to understand that joke).  The director said that he considers “Parasite” to be something of a sequel to one of his previous films, “Host”; he came up with the idea for this during post-production of “Snowpiercer”. Director Bong said that we don’t pay attention to the rich and poor neighbors we see around us all of the time, so that is what he wanted to be the focus of the movie.  He wanted the film to reflect on the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, which is not just happening in Korea, but all around the world.