Since premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last May where it won the Palme d’Or (the first Korean film to do so) Parasite has taken the world by storm. It has received universal critical acclaim, wowing audiences and critics alike, and even knocked The Godfather off the top spot on Letterboxd’s best-ever rated films.
Parasite follows the story of two economically opposite families: the Kims and the Parks. The former live in squalor in a basement, their evenings disturbed by pest control fumigation and urinating drunkards, whereas the latter live in luxury in a wondrous home (which was purpose designed and built for the film) and have their every need attended to by their employed housekeeper, driver and tutors.
The Kim’s luck turns as they infiltrate the Park’s household, adopting their affluent lifestyles, but things soon start to go very, very wrong.
Like many of his previous films – from his 2003 breakout crime-drama Memories of Murder to his English-language thriller Snowpiercer – director Bong Joon-ho deals with themes of class, questioning authority, and wealth and power, this time in a dark, tragi-comedy thriller, the premise of which wouldn’t look out of place in a Shakespearean play. The title itself is purposely ambiguous, but to say much more would be giving too much away…
Joon-ho delivers a masterclass in filmmaking and cements himself as one of the finest directors working today. It’s easy to be skeptical when a film generates this much hype, but its fair to say that every ounce of it is well and truly deserved in a film that defies genre and international borders, striking chords with audiences the world over.
It could be said that the success of Parasite is long overdue for Joon-ho. When making Snowpiercer, he refused to budge on a number of edits insisted upon by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. The film was never given a proper nationwide release, and many feel that had Snowpiercer been given one, it may have been the hit that Parasite is today.
………………………..
And now, Parasite will be screening at Cultureplex’s Mini Cini every night from this Friday.
Why not treat yourself to their pre-theatre £20 for three courses deal? It’s that boojie the Parks themselves wouldn’t turn their noses up at it. (Available Mon-Fri before 7pm).
