Parasite Narrative Analysis

 Parasite is a 2019 South Korean black comedy thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won and co-produced. The film, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin, Park Myung-hoon and Lee Jung-eun, follows a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family, infiltrating their household by posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals.

The Oscar jury has been demonstrating its love for heavy, eccentric and maximally tolerant films year after year. “Parasites” directed by Bong Joon Ho can hardly be called heavy (after all, it is also a comedy) or as tolerant as possible. The only thing that connects the film with the “Oscar” is unconditional eccentricity and novelty, which, as it turned out, were enough to win four prestigious awards. Two of them are for the Best Foreign Feature Film and for the Best Film. Thus, the “Oscar” identified “Parasite” as the best film on the planet in 2020.

The film starts with the Kim family, a South Korean family struggling with poverty in a poor neighborhood in an unnamed city. Ki-taek and Chung-sook, the patriarch and matriarch, are having trouble finding employment, and their children, Ki-woo and Ki-jung are trying to help in whatever way they can. After struggling to make ends meet folding pizza boxes for a local pizza restaurant, the Kims are visited by one of Ki-woo's wealthier friends, Min-hyuk, who offers to refer him to a job tutoring for a wealthy family, the Parks.

Ki-woo visits the Parks in their gigantic home, where he is introduced to the spacey and out-of-touch Mrs. Park. He also meets Da-hye, the flirtatious teenager he will be tutoring, and Da-song, her younger brother, for whom Mrs. Park is trying to find an art tutor. Seeing an opportunity to get his artistically talented sister, Ki-jung, a job, Ki-woo says that he knows someone named "Jessica" who went to college in Illinois, who might be perfect for the job. Ki-jung gets the job after impressing Mrs. Park with some pseudo insights about psychology, and Mrs. Park hires her as both a tutor and an art therapist.Soon enough, Ki-woo and Ki-taek secure positions in the Park household for their parents as well. They get Ki-taek a job as Mr. Park's driver, after Ki-jung leaves her underwear in the car to make it look like his previous driver was having a sexual relationship in the car. After hearing about the peach allergy of the housekeeper, Moon-gwang, Ki-jung and Ki-woo trigger an allergic reaction and make it look like she has tuberculosis. Chung-sook takes over as the housekeeper.The Parks go on a camping trip for Da-song's birthday, leaving the house empty. The Kim family moves in for the weekend and luxuriates. It's all fun and games until Moon-gwang shows up, insisting that she left something at the house. The rest of the family hides as Chung-sook lets her in and Moon-gwang reveals a bunker in the basement of the house, a lair that was installed by the architect who built it, and which even the Parks have no knowledge of. Down in the basement is Geun-sae, Moon-gwang's husband, who is hiding from loan sharks there. Moon-gwang begs Chung-sook not to say anything to the Parks, but Chung-sook threatens to tell them.Suddenly, the Kims fall down the stairs of the bunker in a pile, after listening in on the conversation. Realizing that they are all related, Moon-gwang takes an incriminating video of them and threatens to send it to the Parks. A fight breaks out in the living room of the house, and the Kims manage to get Moon-gwang and her husband down into the bunker, but suddenly, Mrs. Park calls and tells Chung-sook that they are heading home after the campgrounds flooded from a rainstorm. The Kims get trapped in the house, hiding under the coffee table when the Parks arrive home. When Moon-gwang tries to ascend the stairs and reveal herself, Chung-sook kicks her down, concussing and killing her.

When Da-song wants to sleep in a tent outside, Mr. and Mrs. Park sleep on the couch to watch over him. Ki-taek, who is hiding under the table, hears Mr. Park discuss his unsavory smell. Eventually, the Kims are able to escape, but when they return home, they find their apartment is completely flooded. The next day, Mrs. Park calls each of them in to work on Da-song's birthday party, which will take place on the lawn. When Ki-woo goes into the basement, Geun-sae attacks him and bludgeons him in the head with the rock. Geun-sae then emerges onto the lawn party, stabbing Ki-jung in the chest with a knife. As Da-song faints in fear, Mr. Park yells at Ki-taek to throw him the car keys, so that they can take Da-song to the hospital. When Ki-taek throws the keys, they land under Geun-sae, who is fighting with Chung-sook.After Chung-sook stabs Geun-sae with a meat skewer, Mr. Park grabs the keys from under him, but in the process, scowls at Geun-sae's smell. This sets off Ki-taek, who stabs Park in the chest before running away and escaping into the basement bunker unseen.

Ki-woo wakes up in the hospital and learns about what happens. He stands in the woods near the Parks' house, which has been bought by Germans, and observes that the censor light is turning on and off in a pattern—Morse Code. He translates the code and realizes that it is a message from his father, who is living in the bunker. He writes his own letter back, in which he dreams about buying the house for himself and reuniting his family.

The main characters of the film are the poor South Korean family Kim, whose members, nevertheless, are talented and not the most stupid people. They are not unconditional hostages of the situation, because being poor does not mean losing any opportunities for happiness. But the members of the Kim family seem to have resigned themselves to the last statement, and throughout the plot, they only do what they are trying to improve their lives in a not most legal way. They are opposed by the family of the rich Pak, who, unlike the poor Kitheks, live almost on the highest point of the city, thereby further emphasizing their status.Parasite doesn't follow a typical three-act structure, because it is actually two movies combined into one. Bong Joon-Ho uses imagery like windows and stairs to establish themes early in the movie that occur later in the film.

Parasite has broken boundaries, records, and brains the world over — and rightfully so. The movie is a master class in writing, directing, acting, editing, and cinematography.

Each home was designed with front-facing windows that essentially mirrored the windows of the other home. For the poor family, the window is small, and their view is of a drunkard relieving himself. For the rich family, a larger, more expansive window (described as having an aspect ratio of 2.39.1) was created, one that looks out over a beautiful garden. Additionally, the poor family lives underground, while the rich family lives on a hill.

While Bong’s framing and shooting style helped convey the tone of the film, Kyung-pyo’s lighting also had a major impact on how we view the characters and settings. For example, to further distinguish the differences between rich and poor, Kyung-pyo played with sunshine — and the lack thereof.

In the rich family’s mansion, most of the house’s interior is comfortably washed in warm-hued natural light all day. In the poor family’s basement, sunlight only comes through a small window.

Parasite is best described as a melancholy ghost story, albeit one disguised beneath umpteen layers of superbly designed (and impeccably photographed) generic mutations. Thrillingly played by a flawless ensemble cast who hit every note and harmonic resonance of Bong and co-writer Han Jin-won’s multitonal script, it’s a tragicomic masterclass that will get under your skin and eat away at your cinematic soul.

-Ahana Banerjee 

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