Parasite (Korean: 기생충; Hanja: 寄生蟲;

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Parasite (Korean: 기생충; Hanja: 寄生蟲;

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

I do agree with the sentiment that you really have to not know what's going on in the movie. It's one of Bong Joon-ho's most personal films. A lot of what's been bubbling in Snowpiercer and Okja comes out in full force in this movie. And while there is still a satirical and heightened element, it's ultimately more grounded, and thusly feels like a more emotional punch to the gut.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2019 16:45

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 16:41

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Memnaelar posted:

No, seriously, how is the Parasite thread this short? Is there another thread that's actively discussing this movie? This was the best thing I've seen all year, two hours of straight-tension with nervous laughter and holy gently caress moments. Easily his best work in my opinion and just so, so well-paced and constructed. I want to read everything about this movie and normally a goon thread would be about 30 pages on this movie. What happen?

It happens a lot here with actual good movies. It's a mix of people not seeing them and often not being used to talking about moves that are just unequivocally good. Like most of this subforum are people yelling about the unoriginality or corporate staleness of big Hollywood action movies while not just shutting the gently caress up and renting The Farewell.

This is a good thread though, and I really do like the take of the family being the one who are scammed. The one exception is Ki-jeong who is legitimately scamming the family in that she's offering false psychological diagnosis. It's probably one aspect of the film I'm a little shaky on. The gag is that Ki-jeong's take-no-poo poo attitude is what the kid actually needs. Her scam is disguising her meeting the kids needs in a way the family isn't actually paying for. It's a nice gag, but I do get wary of if there is a broader suggestion about art therapy.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2019 23:30

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Honestly, if we want to keep going with the horror movie parallels, Poltergeist probably functions in a lot of ways.

But I think the Us comparison isn't just about the plot parallels. There is this general anxiety of your presentation of yourself or what you think of as your best self not being what you actually are that exists under the surface of both films.

I think one of the most tense moments for me is when the father is driving the car and slips. He doesn't drive perfectly and he curses. The scene is shot from the perspective of Mr. Park, but you can sort of feel the tension from the dad's point of view, the awareness of Mr. Park's judgement, the self admonishment.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2019 05:07

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

It's also like... not not a horror movie. I mean it's clearly playing with horror and home invasion tropes, and there are tons of disturbing moments. It's also kind of a non-body horror body horror movie in a lot of ways. Geun-sae in particular is just so insect like. The actor does a great job of getting across this notion of dehumanization that I found really disturbing.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2019 04:48

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

I think people are being shortsighted if they're just defining the Parks as the rich elites. If you're posting on this forum, you most likely possess some level of privilege over people without access to food and shelter--although I know that's not a universal statement. If you've been judgmental about an uber driver or short with a server, there's a little bit of the Parks that you should be recognizing in yourself.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2020 15:13

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Serf posted:

having food and shelter shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a right, and people like the parks are why it isn't.

Look man yes it is, but that does not excuse that most of the people who post here are--as I am--complicit in a massively unfair distribution of resources. Nor does it mean that just because that you're not on the top of that wealth distribution that you cannot find yourself taking part in classism and grinding down of people in less privileged situations. And if your takeaway from the parable of the movie is to just draw a line where the movie represents other people and the movie is cudgel to dunk on them then I don't think you're fully engaging with the film's message.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2020 17:01

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Serf posted:

you are not particularly "complicit" in a system that you have no power over. because you are poor, your power as an individual is severely limited with respect to what you can accomplish politically.

The problem is that this line of thinking always opens the door to provide people with permission to draw the line of I'm not the rich one. It's very easy to make $90,000 and not feel rich or privileged partly because that's the insidious nature of capitalism and consumerism. And the fact is that even people who make $250,000 in our nation by and large do not necessarily have the political capital to easily make change even if their potential is greater than many. But of course those people are still privileged and of course they're still complicit and of course they're ultimately more the parks than they're not.

You're right about the film showing the grotesque worship of the elite--but I think the movie speaks to other components of privilege and specially the power of being seen that I think gets lost when you're dunking on Chrissy Teagan for... let me check my notes... supporting the second most progressive presidential candidate and using her social status to signal for people to see said anti-Capitalism movie.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2020 17:39

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Owlofcreamcheese posted:

lol art therapy is dumb or whatever but she wasn't doing it at all,

Yeah but you can argue that she was providing the service that they actually wanted for their child even if it's not through the means they requested.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2020 02:21

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

I feel like an American remake would be a bit wonky because the dynamics of classism and "help" jobs are a lot different. I'm not sure if the pretense of having to act posh would really make sense outside of the academic credentials.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2020 02:45

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 16:41

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

punk rebel ecks posted:

I feel a rich white and a poor black family changes the dynamic a little too much due to some obvious reasons. Rich and poor of the same race (including brown and black) could be interesting. But again the context of the story could change.

I think in general the notion of "the help" is just really different in the States.The premise of Parasite is the idea that there is a level of poshness that the family had to maintain. Meanwhile, I've lived with a guy who spent some time making all of his money tutoring some rich kid. And he didn't have to hide the fact that during the day he was a dirtbag who lived with three other dudes. There are probably tons of racist rear end folks and even Trump supporters with health aides or nannies from "shithole" countries. I think Knives Out and Parasite become pretty good companion pieces in illustrating these differences.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2020 01:21

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