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Films  ›  Bong Joon Ho

Parasite (2019)

Film
DirectorBong Joon Ho
GenreComedy · Thriller
Meta takes7

Directed by Bong Joon Ho (b. 1969), this masterpiece represents the absolute zenith of his genre-subverting oeuvre. Set largely within a breathtaking, glass-walled architectural masterpiece of the wealthy Park family, the film follows Ki-woo, a protagonist who transcends the archetype of the desperate hustler to become an avatar of systemic aspiration. The original Korean title, Gisaengchung, implies a biological mimicry and dependence that complicates the simple division of host and guest. As these two families become inextricably bound in a delicate dance of deception and necessity, we are forced to confront the true nature of modern coexistence. In a world defined by invisible borders, who is truly feeding off whom?

Figures

Objects & symbols
Locations
  • The Park family's house vs. the Kim family's semi-basement apartment
  • The secret bunker beneath the Park house → The Uncanny
Form & technique
Tropes
  • The scholar's rock (Suseok) → The Commodity Fetish
  • The film's tonal shifts from comedy to thriller to tragedy → The Cinematic Chimera
  • The Kim family's infiltration of the Park household
  • The Kim children's use of English and American cultural references
  • The 'Ram-Don' (Jjapaguri) dish with sirloin steak → Cultural Capital
  • Ki-taek's repeated line, "You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all."
  • The Kim family's semi-basement window → The Gaze (Le Regard)

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