The Genius of ‘Parasite’

Parasite is a South Korean film that just won four Academy Awards this year at the Oscars including Best Picture, Directing, International Feature Film and Original Screenplay.

The piece is difficult to define into a genre, as like many of Director Bong Joon Ho’s films that bring to light a socioeconomic flaw he sees.

The wonderfully layered film shows the divide between the rich and the poor, and demonstrates how economic mobility is extremely difficult, if not impossible. 

Parasite begins as a comedy that introduces the Park Family-high class and wealthy “simple” people, and the Kim Family-dirt poor but hopeful of a brighter future-who con their way into the Park home by taking advantage of a golden opportunity. By the time the two families have created a symbiotic relationship with the Kims providing quality service to the Parks who pay back generously, the genre shifts to a darker tone as a parasitic infiltrator fights for the Kims’ position. The pessimistic ending reveals that there will always be a person who is rich, and there will always be a person living below them.

 

This movie was greeted with huge applause from both South Korean audiences and the rest of the world, and deservingly so. America was also enlightened by the message of the movie and even better, delivery of the message through brilliantly achieved cinematography. Beautiful houses and places filled Parasite’s frames, as well as the not-so-beautiful ones, which were used on purpose. Attention to detail was never left behind in this film either. Camera angles, framing, depth of field, color, lighting, and even lack of lighting all were used to convey the messages and main ideas of Parasite.  

 

Bong Joon Ho even had the windows of a house measured to fit exactly with the camera width. Types of lighting such as “aesthetic lighting” and “industrial lighting” were installed into sets depending on if they were the rich family’s home or the poor family's home. Even poorer places in the film had barely any light at all, and would contrast to neighboring scenes where the rich family was basking in natural sunlight. 
What’s most impressive however, is the camera angles in Parasite, which are constantly showing a divide between the rich and the poor. In one scene for example, the main character, Kevin is looking out a window at the wealthy family’s mom and the household maid. The corner of the window draws a line between the two women, and when the maid does something that “crosses the line”, she psychically crosses the line as well.

 
This happens throughout the entire film to act as a reminder that the rich will always be seen as rich, and the poor always poor. 

Other elements of movie making that were used brilliantly were the sets. Specifically, the stairs in every set. Director Bong Joon Ho used stairs as another tool to show the divide between rich and poor. In South Korea, “walking up the stairs” is a saying for becoming rich. It seems easy, but Parasite makes the claim that it is nearly impossible. Throughout the movie, you almost always see the rich family walking up stairs and the poor family walking down stairs. 

Although it can be easily overlooked by American viewers, to South Korean audiences it is an ongoing joke. The irony of a rich person walking up the wealthy house’s stairs over and over is humorous. We also see the poor characters frantically running downstairs to their home, which is a semi-basement. These technical details so often go unnoticed by the American audience. 

There are a lot of other details that wouldn’t be recognized in Parasite by audiences in America. One metaphor throughout the film stands out as a clever joke near the end. 

Near the beginning of the plot, the main character, Kevin, receives a scholar rock as a gift from a friend. In South Korea, “Scholar rocks” are big rocks collected by people for good luck or wealth. Typically they would be found on the desks of scholars, which is how they got their name. 

Upon receiving the gift, Kevin exclaims, “It’s so metaphorical!”. Director Bong Joon Ho confessed that the rock was a deliberately strange choice to have this object stand for wealth in the film; it was something he was familiar enough with. This rock makes appearances throughout the film up until the brilliantly composed final act when the antagonist takes the rock from Kevin and smashes it against Kevin’s head.
While the bold deed was fitting for the  completed story, it also made focused audience members giggle at the intelligent humor. Because the rock was a metaphor, Kevin was literally hit in the head with a metaphor. This kind of practical humor is youthfully scattered throughout the film, and makes the dark satire even more enjoyable to watch. 

 
Parasite is a fantastic film that portrays the divide between the rich and the poor in South Korea. It is beautifully shot, brilliantly casted and geniusly written.

By using lighting, camera angles, humor, metaphors and set designs to convey a fantastic message about the gruesome obstacles in socioeconomics today, Parasite dutifully earned itself four Academy Awards and glowing reviews in every country.