Parasite was the talk of the Oscars 2020, becoming the first non-English movie to ever win Best Picture.
Director Bong Joon-ho also took home the Academy Awards’ Best Director statuette with the film winning four of the six categories it was nominated in.
This success though is just the latest to come the film’s way since it’s premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
There it became the first film to win the Palme d’Or - also becoming the first film to win the award with a unanimous vote since 2013.
At the Golden Globe awards in January it won Best Foreign Language Film while at the Oscars it also picked up the International Feature Film and Writing (Original Screenplay) awards.
As well as winning multiple awards the film has also been widely praised by critics, described as a masterpiece.
What’s Parasite about?
Parasite is described as a thriller with dark comedy, and revolves around the lives of two families: the Kim family and the Parks.
While the poverty-stricken Kims live in a shabby basement flat the Parks appear to live the life of luxury. When the Kim family is gifted a ‘scholar’s rock’ though their luck starts to turn. Slowly they all start getting jobs at the wealthy Parks’ home starting with the son who becomes an English tutor for the wealthy family’s daughter.
However fortunes change once again for both families with a dark turn leading to a dramatic conclusion.
What are Parasite’s themes?
Tensions between different classes in society is a big part of the movie, with the Kims infiltrating another by getting jobs at the home of the wealthy Park family. Capitalism and greed are also themes that appear in the film.
However neither family is specifically made out to be the parasites, leaving it the viewer to draw their own conclusions. Bong himself has explained how both could be considered parasites with the Parks “leeching off other people’s labour” and the Kims “infiltrating the rich house, like parasites entering the host”.
One of the ways the theme of class is represented in the films is how a rainstorm had dramatically different effects on the two families.
“In this film, water represents misfortune and disaster,” Bong told Entertainment Weekly.
“Unfortunately water always flows from top to bottom, never the other way around. Water flows from the rich neighborhood to the poor neighborhood. That’s a really tragic element of this film, and I tried to represent that visually through the rain sequence.”
Where to watch Parasite
Parasite was released in UK cinemas on February 7 meaning you can watch it now. With all dialogue in Korean it also comes with English subtitles.
The film has been given a 15 rating due to it having strong bloody violence, language, sex, sex reference (according to the British Board of Film Classification).
The run time is two hours 12 minutes.
What's #BongHive about?
The hashtag #BongHive has burst into life in recent days is a tribute to the film's director and said to be a nod towards Beyonce's dedicated fanbase.
Bong himself isn't on social media but says his friends and family have told him about it.
"I don’t do any social media. It is too tiring. I’m 50 years old, and to have a devoted group of fans associated with me on social media like Beyoncé, who is one of the most amazing musicians and artists in the world - is something I never imagined. It’s incredible."
