Parasite – OCTOBER 11th 2019

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

All unemployed, Ki-taek, and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks, as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and get entangled in an unexpected incident.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

I have never been a fan of subtitles, and to date I’ve only watched about ten theatrical releases that way. So when I heard Parasite was only in Korean, I gave it a hard pass, until I saw the trailer. I had to know what this movie was about. I have never been so happy to have seen such a great film, I had to apologize to myself for wanting to limit my viewing choice by omitting subtitled films. Parasite was so unexpected with a story so original it has to be seen by everyone. Every time I thought I had things figured out, I could not have been more wrong. In the film, Ki-taek and his father and sister are unemployed. The only one with a job was their pizza box folding mother, and she was just fired because too many pizza boxes were folded wrong. I don’t know how the middle-class lives in other countries so, I can’t say precisely how poor they were, but it looked like they lived in an alley converted into small apartments. They seemed courteous, respectful, and they cared about each other. You naturally feel sorry for them and want nothing but the best for them. Then there’s the Parks. A very wealthy family just as lovely and caring as the forementioned poor family. This presents the problem of who to care about in this movie and why. As the film progresses, each family shows a dark side that makes you question their intentions while giving you reasons to understand and empathize with their point of view. By the end of the movie, you’re still a bit unsure as to who was right, but ultimately the realization that our actions define our true nature is one of the overall stories. There are so many positive things I could say about this movie, but unfortunately, if I did, it would spoil something. So if you don’t mind having to read the screen OR if you know Korean, I highly recommend Parasite.

DVD/BLU-RAY/DIGITAL

Genre – Drama/Thriller

Street date

Digital – January 14^th 2020

DVD/Blu-Ray – January 29^th 2020

Video – 1080p

Screen size – 2:39.1

Sound – Korean: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0

Subtitles – English

Extras

Q ana A with director Bong Joon Ho