Parasite (new Bong Joon Ho movie)

The con part is in their credentials, which is simply a gatekeeping mechanism to keep undesirable people out

The dad frequently takes his eyes off the road while driving

“Unlikable characters” is a fake idea and banned.

― Swilling Ambergris, Esq. (silby), Sunday, February 23, 2020 5:17 PM bookmarkflaglink

Nah

I don't massively care about likeability -- and almost never think of it if I go to films by myself -- but the person I was with didn't much care for it because of this.

whom amongst us is truly likeable

Think it’s weird to want characters to be “likable”

I'm trash!

I don't care about films being likable, but there is a growing sect of folk who seem to conflate character POV with filmmaker POV

The lack of niceties among the family is kind've the point, they have to focus 24/7 on the game because they have no safety net. Added to the urgency of the film for me.

xp I call this the Nomi Malone effect.

So weird how people keep referring to the family in this as 'con artists' they are all clearly very good at the job they were hired to do. She's amazing with the kid, he turns corners incredibly smoothly and is nice, gentle company. The house is spotless.

― plax (ico), Sunday, February 23, 2020 5:22 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

The con part is in their credentials, which is simply a gatekeeping mechanism to keep undesirable people out

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Sunday, February 23, 2020 5:30 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is almost a good point but it's not just the credentials; they poison the cleaning lady and frame the driver!

i found everyone likeable except Mr Park. even then, he wasn't like evil, just a haughty dork

in a way i kind of agree with the twitter dumbasses screenshotted upthread tbh. it's not that the movie is "apolitical" but the characters are not themselves politicized. the Kims, though likeable and charismatic, aren't noble and have no solidarity with the other working class people they encounter. the Parks are aloof but pay their workers well and care about their kids; Ms Kim seems to feel genuinely bad about letting go of the driver and cleaning lady. a leftist who watched the movie would probably root for the Kims throughout (i did) but a less political person probably wouldn't; they might even except their comeuppance. the level of inequality is deplorable but not everything the Kims do is necessitated by circumstance, they aren't fully absolved by their position in the system. i suspect part of the reason people don't like the ending is because they don't feel Mr Park deserved to be murdered in front of his kids.

the ambiguity stands in p sharp contrast to okja and snowpiercer which are much more allegorical. i think BJH wanted to critique social inequality but not in a way that was too obvious. the best critique is just to accurately portray it, making all the different dimensions of class palpable and cleverly incorporating them into plot points.

Something I was struck by in the movie is that there's a huge lack of class solidarity between the various working class people. What inspired you to write the relationships that way?

You point out something very important. You know, in Mother, you see the have nots and the needy clawing at each other and hurting one another. On the other hand, in The Host, you see the solidarity between them, they save each other and they gather their strengths together. And you could say Parasite is closer to Mother, where the weak and have nots are fighting one another. And that's sad, but it's also realistic. And from those moments, you get this element of sadness, but also the comedy, as well.

the murder of mr. park is prob the moment where the script comes closest to tipping over.

From a dramatic perspective one thing that works really well is the number of times it seems like they're going to get found out, but they don't. The kid saying they all smell the same, the blackmail/hostage by the former housekeeper, hiding under the coffee table, the kid seeing the morse code.

"it's not that the movie is "apolitical" but the characters are not themselves politicized. the Kims, though likeable and charismatic, aren't noble and have no solidarity with the other working class people they encounter."

I think this kind of fracturing of class solidarity was very well done where work either isn't available or where it's precarious.

Haven't read but leaving it here:

I wrote a (very long) analysis for @TropicsM about reading colonialism and war in Parasite, and why a vision for Korean peace that encompasses decolonization in North America + US unincorporated territories is necessary. https://t.co/9AWcFCDj9s

— Chosun Chillbo (@hermit_hwarang) February 17, 2020

Ned posted that earlier. Worth the read.

Sorry not in the last 50

The fact that his “Dear Leader” is none other than Dong-ik, paragon of South Korea’s neoliberal and neocolonial present, raises the question of which side of the DMZ is the true dystopia.

Um...

All due respect to the writer, but I really don't think Bong Joon-ho meant for the film to be read as pro North Korea propaganda

lol

Fucking hell @ a reading of this article on Parasite as North Korea propaganda.

lol

pvmic

"Bong has left the task of dreaming up to us. Division and war are not Korea’s destiny, and the path to reunification and peace will only become clearer the further we walk it."

Sounds like a love letter to Dear Leader to me

loooooool. did you just literally quote where you were in the article?

"Da-song, the Park’s rambunctious young son, first appears when he fires a plastic arrow at Ki-woo."

Sounds like propaganda to me

I think you need to read this another five times. Or maybe do a Google translate into Danish?

Hey, anything is better than wasting more time on you

Looool

this is a movie about the excellent grift that is personal tuition tbh

Someone told me they were talking about it with a client, who thought the house was lovely but it was a shame about all the violence. I suspect this would be a common view among the kind of people you don't really know.

please check your basement https://t.co/6X2rfkmv3p

— ponyo fishy in the sea (@niazahraaa) March 19, 2020

👍

Finally seen this (working my way through the ILX top 20 movies of 2019) and agree it is brilliant. Watched the first two thirds one night and it felt like two incredible stand-alone episodes, third part was also excellent, was never going to survive being watched separately, but it wasn't a let-down.
My extra thought was: this premise would not work in the UK, they would be found out as non-U immediately, which is kind of telling and a bit depressing. Also the rich mother reminded me of so many of my adult students in China.
My wife knows a lot about feng shui and she says the house seemed like it was constructed to have the worst feng shui possible, so interesting to find out it was made for the film.

I'd be interested in a critique of the Parasite house from a feng shui perspective. Mind, I know little and consider it mostly BS, but this would be a really good teaching example. No one seems to have done this (in English), all I've learned from Google is that the Pyeongchang neighborhood of the Park residence has overly powerful feng shui.

My attitude to feng shui is that it's technically bs, yes, but also that it works as a post-factual rationalisation of some solid underlying rules which make spaces feel better or worse to be in. As someone who usually dreams about buildings and spaces rather than people or images, I feel like feng shui generally makes places feel better for whatever reason. I am fascinated by films which use trick architecture - The Shining and Rosemary's Baby of course, but also some otherwise bad films like Dream Demon and various mediocre Agatha Christie adaptations.

Heading to Criterion with extra stuff, including a B&W version of the film

https://www.criterion.com/films/30619-parasite

still love this movie but this mini trend of "B&W versions" as supplements (see also Fury Road) is awful

unfortunately boring cover art as well

Agreed, especially considering just how many striking images there are in the film.

Only just finally caught up with the film, btw. Unsurprisingly for me, I thought it worked far better in terms of craftsmanship than message. I do think the final ten minutes (everything post-birthday party) could have been summed up in one or two poignant shots, but whatever--I'm glad this was the hit that it was and that Bong Joon-Ho can probably do whatever he wants to do next.

The cover art for their new Pierrot Le Fou is boring af as well.

The Fury Road was IIRC Miller working specifically to create something detailed rather than going "LOL run it through a filter" but who knows.

the b&w Fury Road was discussed in advance as Miller wanting to do a new cut that also removed as much dialogue as possible, but afaict from a cinema viewing, was just a conversion - but it's definitely a sensitive and careful conversion, not just "turning the colour down"

Fury Road is also a pretty explicit tribute to Buster Keaton and the visual language of the silent era. Parasite otoh has so many specific detailed lighting & color choices that carry so much thematic weight, the idea of intentionally taking that stuff out is almost perverse.

Don't forget Logan Noir in terms of B/W versions.

One Eye Open otm, it seems to work against so many of the the most gorgeous shots in the movie.

Incorporating morse code into the cover art is one of those "better in concept than execution" things, imo. Too subtle I guess.

This was about architecture, right

m/l