Review of Parasite (2019)
Seen in 2020.
A working-class nuclear family infiltrates an upper-class nuclear family by fraud.
Having written poor science fiction in Snowpiercer (2013) and Okja (2017), Bong turns to something he understands. This allows him to play to his considerable strengths in another allegory of class and wealth, albeit with his usual inconclusive cynicism. It doesn’t stay within the bounds of classical realism. The comedic elements, the symbols (elevation, the rock, the smell etc.) and the complete lack of concern for Min’s return show the artifice of 19th-century theatre. Yeon Kyo’s parody of Ri Chun-hee is carefully written for the international audience, not naturalistic. The climax resembles Monty Python’s “Salad Days” skit parodying Sam Peckinpah on Flying Circus (1969). It all works well with numerous clever solutions along the way.