So I recently watched the movie Parasite and well, I really really loved it. I was trying to come up with some fancy way of saying that, but it's alright to be at a loss for words sometimes.
I knew the movie was related to class and capitalism, but I WAS NOT expecting this. The first half did not prepare me for the second half. The former was cool, smart and funny. It had the familiar trope of the clever street smart poor conning the naive and easily manipulated rich. It drew me in, and it made me root for the Kim family.
AND THEN. Oh my god. I think this movie has converted me into a Korean movie stan (I've watched 2 already- will list below). I'm going to start haunting the filmographies of the director, Bong Joon-ho, and actors now, BECAUSE ALL OF THEM DID SUCH A BRILLIANT JOB. YUM YUM.
My two favourite actors were-
1. Cho Yeo-jeong, who played Mrs. Park- oh god. I just loved watching this woman. Every scene that she was in, she was a gem. I think a lot could have gone wrong with portraying this role, but she does an amazing job in striking a balance between the stereotype of the rich housewife and her own individuality and humanness. CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH MORE OF HER.
2. Choi Woo-shik, who played Kim Ki-woo- fuck fuck FUCK. Absolute match made in heaven, this casting was. The unpredictability, the hunger, the ambition- everything is there that a role like this called for. Also, he sings a song for the soundtrack also, and kills it there as well.
Also the soundtrack is so good!! Blessed to have it on Spotify.
And oh man, the movie, the movie. First of all, someone called it an entire film studies course in itself and I completely agree. The film is so structurally sound, you can easily spend hours looking at the little dots that connect, the little foreshadowing details, etc. And philosophically, this movie is so relevant. It makes you question nearly everything you know of this world- little things that you stowed to the back of your brain start unravelling before you can stop them. It makes you look at your position in this world, how you have perpetuated cycles of oppression and violence through complicity and silence. For me, personally, not only is it making me question the idea of being a "nice" rich person, it's also making me question the meaning of the world itself (not that I needed another excuse to do so, but whatever). Why do we do this to ourselves? To others? Why do we never learn from mistakes? Or do we not want to learn? Have we constructed this world solely to distract ourselves from... the void? The abyss? Or should I say, the bunker in the basement in case North Korea starts a war?
A friend has recommended me to watch a Japanese movie next, called Shoplifters. She personally found it even better than Parasite, which is already a near-damn perfect movie in my eyes. Can't wait!!
Also, the two Korean movies that shook me to my core back when I was a teenager are-
1. Bungee Jumping of their Own (2001), directed by Kim Dae-seung- oh god. Just thinking about this gives me such strong war flashbacks to 8th grade, when I'd just started watching world cinema, in all my pretentious glory. I was so emotionally overwhelmed by this movie that I not only thought about it a lot, but also WROTE about it in my diaries. I think some of that speculative prose qualifies as fanfiction. I'm kind of dreading finding out how I feel about it now, but do it I must, since 13-year old me did claim that it was her favourite movie.
2. Breath (2007), directed by Kim Ki-duk- in retrospect, I should not have ben watching this movie at the tender age of 14. But well, can't change the past now, can we? I distinctly remember loving the visuals of the movie, and the rawness of the emotions. Maybe I'll rewatch it some time too.
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