The musty smell follows Ki-Jung wherever she visits, revealing her poverty. He translates the code and realizes that it is a message from his father, who is living in the bunker. Following the films major twist, Parasite continues in a far darker tone until its ending. Husband! as they descend into the depths of the bunker also do nothing to alleviate the building tension as we shockingly discover that her husband is in fact a mole person hiding and living right under the Parks noses and supplied food by Moon-kwang regularly, who even worships Mr Park for providing him with food and accommodation. I interpreted the fortune rock as a satirical symbol of the Kim familys burdens and guilt at the circumstances, literally weighing down Ki-woo and revealing his presence as he drops it when sneaking up on Moon-kwang and her husband. To explain Parasites ending, we turn to the directors own words: You know and I know - we all know that this kid isn't going to be able to buy that house. Even my boyfriend, whos no cinephile, was thoroughly impressed by the film and we spent the next hour or so discussing it. He also does a great job in coaching his father's performance for Yeon-gyo so that she will get rid of Moon-gwang. capture a large family group in a single frame. characters are most like you. But if you dig down deep enough, you can find each characters narrative function, and that can become a lens through which you develop the players in your stories. "Parasite"is so perfectly calibrated that theres joy to be had in just experiencing every confident frame of it, but then thats tempered by thinking about what Bong is unpacking here and saying about society, especially with the perfect, absolutely hauntingfinal scenes. The next day, Mrs. Park calls each of them in to work on Da-song's birthday party, which will take place on the lawn. It is the only common factor between the Parks' young boy and Ki-Woo. Youve never seen a movie quite like Parasite. Dammit. On his birthday, a day like today, he had snuck down to the kitchen to eat his birthday cake, but Moon-kwangs husband had snuck up the basement stairs and made eye contact with Da-song. As Mrs Park eats in the kitchen, she shares with Mrs Kim the story of the trauma Da-song experienced when he was younger. When a fluke of luck gets the son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), a job as an English tutor for the wealthy Park familys daughter, the lives of the two families start to intertwine in comedic, dramatic, and eventually, disastrous ways. So how do critics convey when a film truly is unexpectedly, brilliantly unpredictable in ways that feel revelatory? Hence my principle: Character = Function. He has always been fascinated by pop culture and film. Get entertainment recommendations for your unique personality and find out which of 5,500+ Very soon, the Kims also manage to displace the longstanding housekeeper to make room for Mrs Kim to join the operation. Moon-kwang herself is a suspicious character; she must definitely be unhappy with Mrs Kim for being her replacement (although shes unaware that it was due to the Kims meddling that got her fired), but why did she have to visit the house on, of all nights, the night that it was raining cats and dogs? When folding the pizza boxes during the fumigation, he is the most determined (cockroach-like behaviour, as explained above) but also the most careless with his actions. It's a movie of extraordinary cunning and devastating . open/close all folders General The Kim family The Kim family as a whole Kim Ki-taek Kim Chung-sook Kim Ki-woo Kim Ki-jeong The Park family The Park family as a whole Park Dong-ik Park Yeon-kyo Park Da-song Park Da-hye Other characters Min Moon-gwang Geun-sae Yoon Previous Index Next The first half of Parasite plays out largely as a comedy-drama with a compelling narrative and thought-provoking themes. These two powerhouse awards ceremonies rarely overlap and are comprised of entirely different audiences and judges and with entirely different viewing criteria and preferences. Profession English tutor. Dong-Ik has a housekeeper to keep his mansion comfortable and a chauffeur to drive him from the busy workplace to his peaceful home. I would LOVE to hear from other viewers on their theories on the film, so please feel free to share them with me. When a writer does their best, digging deep into their characters, tapping into their souls, the players in our stories magically lift up off the printed page and come to life in a readers imagination. He is traumatised not once, but twice at the sight of Moon-kwangs husband, and is also the youngest and most innocent character. Grew up in a middle-class home that was neither poor nor terribly wealthy. The argument between the two families becomes violent, with the Kims temporarily coming out on top. The rock is ultimately Ki-woos downfall. It was definitely worth all the $9.50 (Grab movie voucher for Cathay :P) I spent to get the full cinematic experience, and I would definitely watch it again (once I recover from the mental scars it left on me). It is his success in passing as a competent English tutor that allows him to invite Ki-jeong into the home and so on. Were here to help. Ki-woo wakes up in the hospital and learns about what happens. It also makes perfect sense to me that a family would have the same smell as they live in the same house and use the same soaps and detergents. Parasite director Bong Joon-ho became the first South Korean filmmaker to win best director at the academy awards. Moon-Gwang has been living in the mansion as the architect's housekeeper since it was first built. Mr and Mrs Park make themselves comfortable on the couch as our protagonists nervously wait for an opportunity to sneak out. Ki-taek, who is hiding under the table, hears Mr. Park discuss his unsavory smell. Their credentials were just as questionable as hers were. Chung-sook is the matriarch of the Kim family. Required fields are marked *. I left the cinema around 2am reeling and shookt, and was still desperately Googling and researching for the films reviews and analyses two hours later. How could they possibly compare to a couple leeching off the Parks like this? Not only does she completely fall for Ki-woo's masquerading as an English tutor to Da-hye, but she proceeds to hire every other member of the Kim family without doing very much due diligence. Grabbing the knife Geun-se wielded, Ki-taek stabs Mr. Park and runs away. RELATED: 5 Reasons Why HBO's Parasite Is A Good Idea (& 5 Why The Movie Should Be Left Alone). Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han, story by Bong Joon Ho. Same thing with script and movie analysis: Look at each character and think about why they exist and what their function is. Maybe you're the one who isn't a good judge of character, Min. Director Bong even uses a wider aspect ratio of 2.35:1 to not only capture a large family group in a single frame, it also gives the viewer the impression of wide spaces that dont allow for hiding spots. The rest of the Kims scramble to clean up the mess they had made, sweeping everything under the couch and hiding under the living room table. Ki-jung is Ki-woo's sister, a smart and tough young woman who does not suffer fools. The cultural swell around Parasite is much deserved and hopefully leads more audience members to check out Parasite director Bong Joon-hos previous films and more South Korean cinema in general. Official synopsis: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan. As the end credits began to roll, the tension in the cinema was palpable. For his family members' employment, Ki-Woo manipulates the Parks into firing their original chauffeur and housekeeper without much thought about what will happen next. He writes his own letter back, in which he dreams about buying the house for himself and reuniting his family. His decision to kill Mr. Park at the end is a shocking and perhaps poor one, but not entirely unjustified. This was foreshadowed early in the film when Mr Kim flicks a stink bug off the table in his house he is the stink bug to Mr Park, a smelly, insignificant insect that is unwelcome, and it is ultimately his stink that triggers his aggression towards Mr Park. Each character inParasiteis unique, but they definitely differ in levels of intelligence. Not only does he have to create suspicion about her, but he has to then convince Yeon-gyo to dispose of Moon-gwang without actually advocating for it. Its here we can clearly see how money and richness have made the Parks blind and naive. in a middle-class home that was neither poor nor terribly wealthy. I noticed that the house, the main setting for the plot, is always perceived by the audience in wide shots to show the expanse of space available. The Parks seem to be happy too. I had my doubts over who the one would be, but it seems to be Mr Kim. Mr Parks arrogance and distaste for the smell becomes his downfall. as an art student at a middle-class family. 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It seems that Ki-jeong had the most passive hand to play in the situation despite setting off the entire disastrous plot, never going as far as Ki-woo as he forms a romantic relationship with the Parks daughter, or harbouring as much resentment against the Parks as Mr and Mrs Kim. Equally impressive was Parasite becoming the first South Korean movie to win the Palme dOr, which is the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. He may be the youngest of the Park family, but he is by no means the dumbest. This secret basement reveals an even lower level of status below what we had thought was the floor with the Kim family. GradeSaver "Parasite Summary". A graduate of Brigham Young University's English program, he can be found re-watching HALT AND CATCH FIRE when he's not elbow deep trying to stay caught up on the latest movies and TV shows. What is Parasite about? Ill do my best because Bong Joon-hos Parasite is unquestionably one of the best films of the year. As Da-song faints in fear, Mr. Park yells at Ki-taek to throw him the car keys, so that they can take Da-song to the hospital. Mr Park yells for Mr Kim to throw him the car keys, which unfortunately get stuck under Moon-kwangs husbands body as he falls. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. For years the country has been producing some of the finest films and directors in the world of cinema, but Parasite has crossed new milestones in terms of global impact. Once the entire Kim family is employed in the Park household, the lower-class con-artists begin to assume more and more of this fabricated identity of wealth. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. The Artist, a French and Belgian production, won best picture at the 2012 Academy Awards but was ineligible for the best foreign language film category as it is a silent film. Parasite is a South Korean movie from 2019 filled with numerous themes, all being the fault of a patriarchal and hierarchical society we have created. She is also too easily swayed by Ki-taek's fakery of Moon-gwang's supposed tuberculosis diagnosis. He notices the flickering light and deciphers a coded message from his father. Bong Joon-ho displays a mastery over genres and tones with this mid-point shift. Mrs Kim calling Mr Kim a cockroach, which we all understand is a relentless survivor that not only 1) runs and hides at signs of danger, but also 2) is literally a parasitic insect that doesnt contribute to the ecosystem. This vertical comment on status is illustrated cleanly in this alternate poster for the film, without spoiling the sub-basement reveal. Yeon-gyo is a well-meaning mother and wife, but she's rather gullible. The characters are a reason for the success and we've ranked how smart they are. One night, as the Parks are away on a camping trip to celebrate Da-songs birthday, the Kims break into the liquor cabinet and lounge in the Parks living room getting drunk and discussing their newfound comfort and the precarious situation. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist,The New York Times, and Rolling Stone,and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. In this scene, Ki-jeong cuts her finger on a piece off glass as shes sweeping them under the couch. A highlight of the film for me that cannot go uncredited was the music and score. They take on odd jobs for cash like folding pizza boxes, and they rely on unprotected wi-fi networks and street-cleaning pesticides to keep their home insect-free. Chung-sook takes over as the housekeeper. Down in the basement is Geun-sae, Moon-gwang's husband, who is hiding from loan sharks there. Small things, such as the Kim family opening their windows as their neighbourhood is fumigated in order to rid their own apartment of pests, or drunkards that liked to piss on their basement windows at night, were double-edged jokes that combined absurdist humour with sly details of the familys desperation and socio-economic plight. The sense of dread that the husband instills doesnt pay off until the end of the movie. Parasite director Bong Joon-hos insightful and engaging comedy/thriller became one of the most talked-about films of the year and set a new precedent for the mark a South Korean movie can leave on United States movie-going audiences. Today we discuss the characters in the script for Parasite. Ki-Jung's family was much better off in her childhood when her father owned a cake shop. This time it's true. What they dont realise is the effects their actions have. Workplace to his peaceful home Parks ' young boy and Ki-Woo Joon Ho and Jin Won,. 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