Parasite (2019)

finally saw this and while i enjoyed most of it, it's not remotely the best 2019 film i saw(Jo Jo Rabbit). biggest issues: a) dad not leaving the house once he's upstairs with only the housekeeper-anyone who can act and con people as much as he did could surely figure a way to avoid the authorities with all that time downstairs b) are you telling me neither of the families we saw living in that house would not have fixed that damn light? friggin' blinking would have drove me nuts. at least just remove the bulb!

 

“I am preparing two different projects. One is a Korean-language one, and the other one is an English-language one. Both projects are not big films. They’re the size of “Parasite” or “Mother.” The Korean film is located in Seoul and has unique elements of horror and action. It’s difficult to define the genre of my films. The English project is a drama film based on a true event that happened in 2016. Of course I won’t know until I finish the script, but it has to be set half in the U.K. and half in the U.S.”
-Bong Joon Ho, November 20th, 2019. 'Parasite' Director Bong Joon-ho's Next Movie is an Action-Horror Film, And Neon Plans to Re-Release 'Memories Of Murder'
Neon will also rerelease Memories of Murder in the theaters and on Blu-ray. It's well worth a watch if you've never seen it.

 

watched 'parasite'

good movie for sure.

oscar for best picture....not in a million ****ing years.

 

I thought this was an incredibly unique film! It had my attention all the way through, and took on some pretty heavy social subjects. I like films that explore more daring subjects like this one, and wish there were more that did so. I had no idea how it was going to end up. Most new films are predictable. I thought I had this one figured out several times, but was wrong with every hypothesis. It deserves awards. Best picture? I don't know. Maybe so. I haven't seen all the movies it was up against.

 

Just a heads up. Parasite was released on Hulu this week.

 

What a great thriller. If you're put off by subtitles, you needn't be.
Very well written and not an ounce of padding. Reminds me of the
great American noirs.

I'll always remember one line:

"Clockwise".

Lulz

 

I loved that line, too!

 

Wow, loved the film. I thought it would be some kind of heavy-handed artsy-fartsy thing, but it was extremely accessible, very surprising, with a lot of complexity. Terrific film -- I totally get why it won so many awards.

And who knew that beautiful modern house in Parasite was largely CGI, at least on the outside, and the same with a lot of the city streets and car driving scenes? This VFX breakdown is remarkable...

 

agreed, good film and good film-making......but......not even close to 'once upon a tie in hollywood', not even close.

 

I didn't say it was as good as Once Upon a Time in Hollywoo, but I understood why it struck a chord, because it was a relatively low-budget foreign film that showed a world Americans had never seen before, and yet made a relatable story of class distinctions that went into many surprising directions. I thought Parasite was a compelling, emotional film that I didn't expect to like at all, but I found it riveting and actually shocking by the end. I totally get why it had such an impact.

 

agreed..I am still trying to figure out why this movie won?...I did enjoy it as a "B" movie though...A? no way.

 

I was not crazy about the ending...: )

 

excellent... Thanks!

 

I thought one upon a time was terrible, so to each his/her own. My wife and I try to see all nominees each year. Parasite was at the top of both of our lists

 

well said, but (and its a big BUT) best picture of the year?

nope, no way.

'hollywood' was mesmerizing, every seen, not a wasted minute int he whole thing.

 

I agree, but I'm not an Academy member. I think they voted for it because Quentin Tarantino already has two Oscars, plus I think they wanted to recognize a non-white filmmaker, and they wanted to show that it was possible for a foreign film to win Best Picture and Best Director.

I wouldn't say that Parasite was the best film of the year, but it was an extremely good film, far better than I was expecting.

 

I loved Once upon a time in Hollywood, and while both films are great, Parasite is better. Tarantino is great and impressive at what he's doing, but he hasn't done anything as precise and powerful as Parasite since Reservoir Dogs.

 

Well, I liked both “Parasite” and “Once Upon a Time in America”, but I would have voted for “Marriage Story”. I thought that movie was incredible with some brilliant and poignant scenes. There is a lot of terrific subtlety in this movie particularly with the performances of the leads, Dern, Alda, and Liotta.

 

Right on!

 

Clearly one of the better movies last year, but no way best film. For sheer creativity and audacity OUATIH beats it like Cliff Booth beats that guy who flattened his tire.

I'm curious about what may have happened next to Cliff and Rick. That Parasite Family? Not all that interesting....

 

I caught this on CRAVE last night and thought it was excellent, the ending was a little messy but overall it was great and a lot funnier than I expected.

 

My wife and I finally got around to renting it last night. It's an interesting film with some thought provoking realities of social structure. I was a bit underwhelmed... the ending was sloppy and there was some plot holes big enough for a Mercedes Benz to drive through.

 

This thread hasn't been active in a while but I just had to add my two cents. I absolutely adore Korean cinema, so much so that I've been studying the language so that I can watch them without subtitles. I think Parasite is the best film I've seen in years and I say this as someone that has watched all the films nominated for best picture. While films like Once Upon a Time in America and The Irishman are well made, are they really portraying something new or interesting? To me The Irishman seemed like a sequel to Goodfellas and Casino. OUATIA was a bit underwhelming personally. Same goes for the other films that were nominated. Maybe it's just me but I've grown tired of Hollywood over the past few years. Seems like the same actors and ideas keep getting regurgitated again and again.

Parasite on the other hand was a breath of fresh air both story wise and how it was executed. The cast was brilliant, the set design was impressive, it's ability to seamless transition from comedy to thriller to horror was amazing. Loved the score too, as a producer, sound designer myself I found the music to perfectly capture the various moods of the film.

Not surprised by its lukewarm reception on this forum though. The demographic here seems to be a bit older than myself so it's understandable why there would be a preference for the Scorceses and Tarantinos over a Korean director. There might also be a slight bias against subtitled films and a general unwillingness to accept change (that extends to the Music section of this forum as well). As an Asian myself though, I'm so glad Parasite swept the Oscars as well as other prestigious awards, it's a huge win for Korean cinema, Asian cinema and foreign films in general. It's a bit infuriating when some suggest that it won in order to fill some quota for representation. It won because it truly was the best film made in quite a while imo. As Bong Joon Ho brilliantly said "Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films". I still think Memories of Murder and Mother are him at his peak but Parasite isn't far behind.

Finally, two recommendations for other great non-English films that deal with class struggle, both from 2018: The Korean film Burning and the Japanese film Shoplifters

 

I agree with your post. I stumbled across some Korean crime dramas and thought films like Casino and Scarface don’t come close. While Parasite is a breath of fresh air in formula Hollywood I thought the last act of the film, beginning at the point where the protagonists were under the sofa hiding like roaches which was brilliant, wasn’t believable nor plausible after that. It tried too hard to make social commentary rather than to stick to the flow of the film.