By Nanda Illahi
When talking about the movie that shook the world in 2019, various works will come to mind, but we definitely can’t forget to mention Parasite (2019). This Bong Joon-ho masterpiece has been creating history since day one.
Parasite (2019) is the first South Korean film to win Palme d’Or and the Golden Globes. Even more, it is the first foreign language film to earn outstanding performance by a cast at SAG Awards and best picture at the Oscars. Parasite (2019) starts with a strong introduction of what living in poverty may look like for a family in South Korea. The film begins with a tour of the Kim family’s semi-basement apartment while the eldest son, Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) struggles to find a free internet connection. The turning point for the Kims is depicted in the giving of a scholar’s stone by Min-hyuk (Park Seo-joon) that they believe will bring fortune or wealth to the family. Along with the stones, Min-hyuk also offers a job for Kiwoo to replace him as an English tutor for a rich family’s daughter. Afterwards, as Ki-woo earns his place as a tutor for Park family’s eldest daughter, he becomes the Kims’ key to enter the house and life of the Parks.
The movie is one of those works that is difficult to explain without spilling the little details that made it the ultimate chef-d’oeuvre. In its core, Parasite (2019) is a metaphor of the society and the sentimental bond of family as the smallest social unit. It is a jam-packed work of art.
The Kims’ nerve-wracking journey commences with Ki-woo’s success in convincing Mrs. Park (Jo Yeo-jeong) that he’s really an intelligent college student from a prestigious university she respects. Ki-woo, then, recommends his sister Ki-jung (Park Sodam) to teach art for Park’s second child. Kiwoo pretends that Ki-jung, aka Jessica, is merely an acquaintance and hides their true relationship. The Kim family conspires to scam the Parks and lure them to hire all four family members.
Parasite (2019) relates the story of how the rich and the poor are systematically separated; yet, in reality, they continue to live side-by-side. As the rich and privileged, Park family, keeps on underestimating and debasing their “servers,” they forget how much assistance they have received from the Kim family. Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun) will have difficulty in running his errands without his driver, Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho). Similarly, since the poor and miserable, Kim family, start to manipulate the Parks and take advantage of the rich, they will have a hard time living without the help of the Park family.
As the movie reaches its climax, it is evident that the film is more than a simple critique about society’s hierarchical system. The suspenseful scenes, that shall not be spoiled here, reveal the more complex relationship between the two families. The Park’s house bears the portrayal of the deep-rooted bloody division between the haves and the have-nots and what they’re willing to do to protect what they have, at least what remains of it.
The mutualistic and symbiotic relationship between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, is the message that Bong Joon-ho wants to deliver; one cannot live without the other. Parasite (2019) is a satirical commentary on the broken and archaic system of social stratification.
The Polyphony 