Rich Family, Poor Family

I’m a big fan of South Korean cinema, having seen a number of notable films from that country in many genres over the last two decades such as ‘Joint Security Area,’ ‘Shiri,’ ‘Taegukgi,’ ‘A Tale of Two Sisters,’ ‘War of the Arrows,’ ‘Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,’ ‘Lady Vengeance,’ ‘The Host,’ ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird,’ ‘Masquerade,’ ‘The Villainess,’ ‘Train to Busan’ and of course, ‘Oldboy,’ the 2003 neo-noir mind-fuck of a suspense thriller later remade for American moviegoers by Spike Lee starring Josh Brolin.  So when a colleague at work (thanks, Bob!) recommended the latest offering from S. Korea, a rather mysterious feature that took Cannes by storm earlier this year by winning the prestigious Palme d’Or, he didn’t have to tell me twice.

 

‘Parasite’ tells the tale of a down-on-its-luck family of four struggling to make ends meet and, more importantly, how far they will go to improve their collective fortunes.  When an opportunity presents itself, what will you do?  It is a fascinating premise that not only delves into human nature but also examines how seemingly innocuous occurrences can have a “snowball effect” and spin out of control on a path to destruction.  The less said about the plot and twists of this movie the better, because boy oh boy you will never see what’s coming and when it does you will be floored.

 

Unlike ‘Midway’ above, ‘Parasite’ is a movie the critics will lavish universal acclaim upon (99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) because it has a great story which defies our expectations, solid acting from its cast of characters and tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, all served up with a generous dose of delicious dark comedy.  The fact that it also provides social commentary by highlighting the divide between the rich and poor is just an added bonus.

Grade: A+