‘Parasite’ Makes History at Academy Awards, But Was It Really that Good?
It was a big night for the Korean film industry as the highly acclaimed movie ‘Parasite’ won four Oscars:
Bong Joon-ho’s sensational black comedy “Parasite” has bagged four Oscar titles, becoming the first non-English language film to win best picture.
At the 92nd Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday (U.S. local time), Bong’s seventh feature film, a tale of class division, won the ceremony’s highest prize — best picture.
It beat out strong competition from “1917” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” for the win. Other nominees were “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Little Women,” “Joker,” and “Marriage Story.”
“Parasite” also won best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film. It is South Korea’s first Oscar-nominated film.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but for those that have not seen the movie it is a satire about class struggle in South Korea involving a poor family using illegals ways to work for a rich family. Everything is going fine until an outside person breaks the balance that had been formed between the rich and the poor family. Things then go down hill very quickly.
I found it to be a well acted, filmed, and directed movie, but not one of the best Korean movies I have seen. In fact it is one of the few movies I have watched where I disliked every single character. It is definitely not something I would rush to go watch again. That is why I think this win for ‘Parasite’ had more to do with the weak competition it faced this year, left wing politics that love movies like this, and Hollywood trying to diversify.
But, maybe I am wrong, has anyone else watched the movie and thought this is the best movie they have seen?
Much better than the usual Korean slop at the CGVs but I think it rode a wave of #oscarssowhite criticism to the wins.
My own review is here. My opinion isn’t too far different from yours, GIKorea.
My wife and I watched it on Saturday. After it was over, we looked at each other, and said “That was it? What did the rest of the world see in this film that we totally missed? We are still puzzled over the acclaim this film has gotten.
It’s one of the very few films where every single scene and line of dialogue contributes to the final effect. Most films, even very good ones, have a few ragged ends or bits which, as you watch, you realize are not quite done well, not quite finished. Parasite never flags, never telegraphs its twists, and moves towards its climax like a classical tragedy. Except it’s also wildly funny. My own favourite part of the film was the rainstorm scene where there is this constant unstoppable downward movement (coupled with amazing location work), and you begin to realize – without being explicitly told – where this story is heading. That sequence is brilliantly edited, and I remember sitting in the theater and watching it unfold and thinking, this guy is a master of his craft. Anyway, as you can tell, I liked the film, and compared to the typical Oscar-bait that was nominated this year, I would rate it as a real standout. I mean, what does 1917 offer except its single trick (real-time narrative)? Tarantino’s film is pretty typical Tarantino, even though it has slightly more heart than most of his stuff.
The other factor is just numbers. Consider the case where there are (hypothetically) 1000 voters and four films nominated. It’s possible a film could win with 251 votes, with the other three films getting 249, 250, and 250. But where there are nine films nominated, it’s possible to win with 101 votes, and the remaining votes distributed as 7 x 100, and #8 scoring 99. So the odds were always going to be on the side of something that was just a little bit wilder and fresher, and Parasite delivers that in spades.
Korean leftist trope, don’t waste your time.
@Kevin Kim, good review, I did not even think about the climate change angle that Bong likes to push. I left from watching movie thinking that the Kim family was not the parasites that Bong intended them to be. Despite the illegality of how they got those jobs with the rich family, those jobs were actually improving their stations in life and giving them the opportunity for social mobility which leftists claim can’t happen.
The real parasite was the guy living in the secret basement that provided no services to the rich family and just mooched off of them. He ended up destroying the mutually beneficial relationship between the rich and poor families. I doubt Bong meant this, but I thought that guy was a perfect stand in for people that live off of government services with no intention of getting a job that ultimately drag down economies.
Me and my wife watched it and were a little disappointed. Not only is it not the best Korean film, it’s not even the best film Bong Joon Ho has directed- that would go to Memories of Murder (2003).
But, like others have said. The myriad factors conspired to bring the home multiple awards. It’s unfortunate given the hype, I’m afraid a lot of people will watch it and think ‘That’s it???’ Unfortunate since Bong Joon Ho and Song Kang Ho are both brilliant, especially in the previously mentioned thriller.
In classic Korean fashion, the perps got off on probation. Only in Korea.
@Kevin Kim, I second GIKorea’s praise of your excellent in-depth review. Always a pleasure to read thoughtful and insightful criticism.