I can't believe there's no thread!

This was amazing -- and one of the first times, as an adult, I feel like the Best Picture winner is uncontroversial (to me).

I thought I'd miss out, not understanding Korean culture and manners, but there's so much here that it's gripping regardless.

I had mixed feelings on it.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

The first half I thoroughly enjoyed a lot and was pleasantly surprised by the light comedic moments. The comedy was genuine. Also loved the premise of a clever family getting employed one by one.  

It derailed for me when it went dark - the murders and attempted murders. It was a bit of an empathy killer. Up to the point that the young boy was going to bludgeon the husband to death with the rock, I had a great deal of empathy for him and his family. Just a poor Korean family
doing whatever it takes to survive.  But when he decides to become a murderer - the empathy erodes for me.  Am I suppose to continue rooting for this family or the just as poor family that they are trying to kill off?

The man going insane and killing the rich dude over his distaste for the smell of the poor was a deeply poignant moment for sure - just didn't match with the gist of the first half of the film. I would have liked them to pick a lane here - Mixing comedy and murder is a tough one. Think like if at the end of Ground Hogs day Bill Murray loses his mind and murders the news crew he is with. Be like - wow, didn't see that coming. So for me Parasite was like two different movies mashed into one. I liked both parts as a stand alone - but had issues with them being mashed together.

I will give you this - it is certainly a film that stays with you for a few days.

Obviously I'm wrong - it got Best Picture.

I actually really enjoyed the moral complexity. This is (obviously) about wealth inequity but it doesn't labor the point by making any character plainly sympathetic or villainous (aside from maybe the rich Dad, who is a monumental dick).

Also, I think the sex scene between the rich parents where she is screaming BUY ME DRUGS; BUY ME DRUGS is one of the funniest and most ridiculous things put to film.

I finally watched this movie the other night. It's worth all the hype.

Anything that beats out Quentin Tarantino at the Oscars for best screenplay has my undivided fucking attention

I have a curious relationship to Bong's work. I'm a fan of some, not so much of others. I sometimes find his critical appraisal a little too generous. Snowpiercer and Okja were middling fair, flawed, uneven, metaphorical hammerings over the head. I recently re-watched The Host and did like it more than when I first saw it back in 2006. Memories of Murder is a true masterpiece though and Mother is great.

Parasite would rank as my second favourite of his. Its slick, it moves, its engaging, its unpredictable, thematically rich (although the fawning praise over the class commentary is again, generous) One family is rich, one is poor, they are engaged in a parasitic relationship, ok we get it. It’s pretty blunt and unsubtle. Another characteristic of his work.

I should say I still liked Parasite a lot, it’s an undeniably enjoyable ride. I watched it twice with different people who both loved it...like seemingly EVERY other person whose seen it.

My main reservations were two fold. Firstly with how savvy the poor family were at infiltrating the rich family. I mean, it was done with almost Ocean's 11 like precision. It just made me think: if this family is so smart and cunning, how are they so poor? It all happened too quickly and too easily for them. Fun to watch, like a Scorsese gangster film, but ended up raising more questions than anything  

My biggest issue is with the ending though. Not the mechanics of the story, it’s quite clever in fact but where the film ends emotionally distanced me in a big way. Even though Bong presents morally dubious people on both sides (no one here is perfect, they are all flawed and kind of unlikeable) the film is definitely on the side of the poor family during that epilogue. It sympathises with their estrangement and has a wishful flash forward in which they are reunited. I wasn't at that place, I wasn't with them by then. They had lost me. This isn't a problem by the way, I have no qualms with the poor family becoming as barbaric and grasping as they do, that's intrinsic to the themes being explored, my issue is that the film wants you to root for them. The film actually believes that despite it all, they are ultimately the good guys. They deserve to be together eventually and succeed. I mean, we don't even see the rich family again after the BBQ bloodbath. They lost a father and the last we see of their son he is being carted off to hospital but the film doesn’t want you to care about them whatsoever.

Otherwise it’s very well made, funny, shocking, nasty when it needs to be…just rather morally confused.

Quoted from Colkurtz8 I have a curious relationship to Bong's work. I'm a fan of some, not so much of others. I sometimes find his critical appraisal a little too generous. Snowpiercer and Okja were middling fair, flawed, uneven, metaphorical hammerings over the head. I recently re-watched The Host and did like it more than when I first saw it back in 2006. Memories of Murder is a true masterpiece though and Mother is great. Parasite would rank as my second favourite of his. Its slick, it moves, its engaging, its unpredictable, thematically rich (although the fawning praise over the class commentary is again, generous) One family is rich, one is poor, they are engaged in a parasitic relationship, ok we get it. It’s pretty blunt and unsubtle. Another characteristic of his work. I should say I still liked Parasite a lot, it’s an undeniably enjoyable ride. I watched it twice with different people who both loved it...like seemingly EVERY other person whose seen it. My main reservations were two fold. Firstly with how savvy the poor family were at infiltrating the rich family. I mean, it was done with almost Ocean's 11 like precision. It just made me think: if this family is so smart and cunning, how are they so poor? It all happened too quickly and too easily for them. Fun to watch, like a Scorsese gangster film, but ended up raising more questions than anything   My biggest issue is with the ending though. Not the mechanics of the story, it’s quite clever in fact but where the film ends emotionally distanced me in a big way. Even though Bong presents morally dubious people on both sides (no one here is perfect, they are all flawed and kind of unlikeable) the film is definitely on the side of the poor family during that epilogue. It sympathises with their estrangement and has a wishful flash forward in which they are reunited. I wasn't at that place, I wasn't with them by then. They had lost me. This isn't a problem by the way, I have no qualms with the poor family becoming as barbaric and grasping as they do, that's intrinsic to the themes being explored, my issue is that the film wants you to root for them. The film actually believes that despite it all, they are ultimately the good guys. They deserve to be together eventually and succeed. I mean, we don't even see the rich family again after the BBQ bloodbath. They lost a father and the last we see of their son he is being carted off to hospital but the film doesn’t want you to care about them whatsoever. Otherwise it’s very well made, funny, shocking, nasty when it needs to be…just rather morally confused.

Well said - your last sentence - "morally confused" really struck a chord with me and perhaps why this film lasted with me a few days - still trying to digest the message.  Add to that the poor were murdering the poor, and it muddles the message even more.

Quoted from eldave1 Well said - your last sentence - "morally confused" really struck a chord with me and perhaps why this film lasted with me a few days - still trying to digest the message.  Add to that the poor were murdering the poor, and it muddles the message even more.

Actually, I thought the poor turning on each other was an inspired direction to take the story around the hour mark. It's pure base survival at that point, overriding everything else. The protagonists become the antagonists. It intentionally muddies the water. Otherwise, you just have the plucky, resourceful poor taking down the pompous rich, that's too simplistic. Nothing much to wrestle with there.

I just thought it would've been more effective if Bong took an objective approach in that final sequence, presented events without showing his hand so much. A big deal has been made about the film's moral complexity and how no one is innocent and who really are the titular parasites...but we all know which family Bong really supports and that didn't sit well with me.

Having seen all of Bong's movies, I have to say, I wasn't a great fan of most of them. The Host in particular I thought was massively overrated. Although, like Colkurtz, I watched it back when it came out.

I was surprised at how much I liked Snowpiercer, though.

Parasite, however, I thought was good, but not worth the hype it got.

...Let the backlash commence ;D

Quoted from Colkurtz8 Actually, I thought the poor turning on each other was an inspired direction to take the story around the hour mark. It's pure base survival at that point, overriding everything else. The protagonists become the antagonists. It intentionally muddies the water. Otherwise, you just have the plucky, resourceful poor taking down the pompous rich, that's too simplistic. Nothing much to wrestle with there. I just thought it would've been more effective if Bong took an objective approach in that final sequence, presented events without showing his hand so much. A big deal has been made about the film's moral complexity and how no one is innocent and who really are the titular parasites...but we all know which family Bong really supports and that didn't sit well with me.

Will just agree to disagree here.  No need to muddle the water, IMO. For me, I went from rooting for them to WTF?  Could have removed them and spent more film time on how that family learned the skills, weaved their way into the rich family. i.e., remove the second family and it is a better movie - at least for me.

To each his own.

Quoted from eldave1 Will just agree to disagree here.  No need to muddle the water, IMO. For me, I went from rooting for them to WTF?  Could have removed them and spent more film time on how that family learned the skills, weaved their way into the rich family. i.e., remove the second family and it is a better movie - at least for me. To each his own.

Fair enough.

Maybe the upcoming TV show will develop some of those strands you mention.

Quoted from Colkurtz8 Fair enough. Maybe the upcoming TV show will develop some of those strands you mention.

First I heard of this - thought you were pulling my leg and Googled it and there it was:

Quoted Text Bong Joon-ho has revealed that the television adaptation will likely explore the stories that take place between the scenes of the movie.

Hmm. Wonder if this is going to start a trend?

Yeah, he's developing it with Adam McKay which doesn't exactly have me anticipating with bated breath. It does seem to be an increasing trend in recent years. Fargo, Westworld and Watchmen come to mind (although the last two are originally based on books) Stargate was another.

With long form storytelling currently in vogue it could become more common.

Quoted from Colkurtz8 Yeah, he's developing it with Adam McKay which doesn't exactly have me anticipating with bated breath. It does seem to be an increasing trend in recent years. Fargo, Westworld and Watchmen come to mind (although the last two are originally based on books) Stargate was another. With long form storytelling currently in vogue it could become more common.

Me thinks you are right. Trend coming

Absolutely loved it. Here are my non-spoiler thoughts I posted on a writers group on FB.

You can’t really talk about the story of Parasite without spoiling it so I’m going to gush about the writing instead.

Every scene and every line of dialogue had the kind of clutter western films seem to strip away in their obsession with creating white space in scripts to make it easier to read. And yet, it enriched the story and the characters so much, it made everything feel more real, natural and invigorating. I think this is why I enjoy some of Quentin Tarantino’s work so much; it is a refreshing change.

The tone shifted relentlessly, flawlessly. This could have gone any way at any moment (and indeed it sometimes did) and I would have happily gone along with whatever happened next. The beauty of it was, I had no feckin’ clue what was going to happen next and I loved it.

I didn’t spot the usual structure, format, cliché’s or tropes. I’m sure some of it was in there, but it didn’t FEEL like any of it was there. Nothing was predictable or expected. It’s a shame that writers have to set up their stories by highlighting a couple of films or books out there similar to what they are pitching. I get why this occurs, it’s just, well is it any wonder we have so much safe, familiar stories being produced? I couldn’t easily pick two films out there which give an agent or producer an idea of what Parasite is and rightly so.

The characters. Every one of them has protagonist and antagonist traits. Every one of them has main character moments. Mark Kermode said he wished there was an Oscar for Best Ensemble and I can see why. Not only is every character given 110% attention in the screenplay but the actors they’ve picked are incredible.

And diversity of course. This film wipes the floor with the old prejudices against race, culture, gender and language. Great storytelling should be beyond all such false boundaries.

Parasite, in my opinion, deserves all the accolades, awards, praise, success and more.

Quoted from eldave1 I had mixed feelings on it. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD The first half I thoroughly enjoyed a lot and was pleasantly surprised by the light comedic moments. The comedy was genuine. Also loved the premise of a clever family getting employed one by one.   It derailed for me when it went dark - the murders and attempted murders. It was a bit of an empathy killer. Up to the point that the young boy was going to bludgeon the husband to death with the rock, I had a great deal of empathy for him and his family. Just a poor Korean family doing whatever it takes to survive.  But when he decides to become a murderer - the empathy erodes for me.  Am I suppose to continue rooting for this family or the just as poor family that they are trying to kill off? The man going insane and killing the rich dude over his distaste for the smell of the poor was a deeply poignant moment for sure - just didn't match with the gist of the first half of the film. I would have liked them to pick a lane here - Mixing comedy and murder is a tough one. Think like if at the end of Ground Hogs day Bill Murray loses his mind and murders the news crew he is with. Be like - wow, didn't see that coming. So for me Parasite was like two different movies mashed into one. I liked both parts as a stand alone - but had issues with them being mashed together. I will give you this - it is certainly a film that stays with you for a few days. Obviously I'm wrong - it got Best Picture.

I agree with a lot of this.

This wasn't anything special in my opinion, but it was enjoyable for the most part. The social commentary is lost on me.

But as a movie about a poor family that infiltrates a wealth family, it was kinda fun to watch. The murders seemed so out of place, but I did like the ending.

Not something I'd ever watch again or go out of my way to recommend.

Quoted from Warren I agree with a lot of this. This wasn't anything special in my opinion, but it was enjoyable for the most part. The social commentary is lost on me. But as a movie about a poor family that infiltrates a wealth family, it was kinda fun to watch. The murders seemed so out of place, but I did like the ending. Not something I'd ever watch again or go out of my way to recommend.

Yeah. Solid B for me. Not something I would rewatch

Utterly adored this.

Lots of focus on the economic inequality it no doubt highlights, and whilst that was the surface message, for me it was a case of stating how we are all ultimately victims of a system that corrodes our humanity and defines us by our economic utility.

Quoted from Andrew Utterly adored this. Lots of focus on the economic inequality it no doubt highlights, and whilst that was the surface message, for me it was a case of stating how we are all ultimately victims of a system that corrodes our humanity and defines us by our economic utility.

Seconded. Even-handed and perceptive in its tragedy.

10/10 knockout entertainment in my view.

Watched this twice. Once in theaters, once at home. Had mixed feelings about it.

The most popular Korean films (the ones by or in the style of Bong-joon Ho, Park Chan-wook, Jee-woon Kim) tend to be very tonally disjointed (by design). Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. While I've enjoyed all of them, I've found Bong-joon Ho's films to be especially disjointed in this way and have definitely had some notable stumbles, especially where comedy is concerned. This was especially the case for his American films where the plots got crazier and the characters got more outlandish.

This was sort of a return to form for the guy. First half was near air tight. Second half definitely goes off the rails. I think it was strongest (the second half, that is) when it stuck to the core themes of the films and took itself seriously, although some of the gags did work quite well. There was also a certain section of the ending that I really wasn't crazy about.

Ultimately, though, I think the film is a success and highly entertaining. The second time I watched it, I was at home, it was very late at night, and I was with a friend who picked it who hadn't seen it before. We were drinking and talking over it, but it totally held our attention and we didn't miss anything important. We were mostly commenting on the film itself, in fact. You could say it passed the smell test.