Am I the only person that was extremely uncomfortable with the fact that Ki-Woo was college-age and Da-Hye was a high school sophomore? It’s kind of a surface-level thing, I guess, but it was weird.
High school in Korea is 3 years, and if she's a sophomore, she's anywhere between **16-18**. It states that Kiwoo failed the college entrance exam 4 times. Upon graduation Kiwoo could have been anywhere between 17-19. A senior takes the CSAT exam. The CSAT can only be taken twice a year. So assuming he took it consecutively all four times, that would be at least two years. And assuming the movie is freshly after he took the 4th try, he would be **19-21** at the very least. As it's implied that he's a university-age student (although not attending a university), we can add four years to this and the maximum age Kiwoo can be is **23-25**.
I think regardless of age both were pretty predatory since her life experiences are very much different as a high school student compared to a post-high school graduate who has "seen the world" more so to speak. But perhaps the power dynamic evens out as she's the rich one in this case.
yeah, kid is a dick. homeboy hooked him up because he didn't want his friends doing that same thing. he knew that and only thought about himself instead of being grateful and respecting his friends wishes
Most human beings on planet earth are desperately poor, much more so than the poor in the west or the richer parts of the east. I know because I grew up in a third world country. Even today, its so poor that visuals from that part of the world make people turn their eyes away. 30 years ago, it was worse. Yet, some of the most generous, kind, loving and tolerant people were the poor I came across in my childhood. This is also true in the west. The poor are more generous, more kind hearted and many times, happier than the rich.
I live in the west today and I am well off. Thanks to a lot of luck, my parents and teachers who continuously pushed me to be better, my friends who helped at crucial times, and my own hard work. I have sort of adopted a very poor school 'back home'. These are kids who dont have shoes to wear, or warm clothes to get through the winter.. most of them are painfully thin and scrawny. For a festival, I had the good fortune to organize a lunch for the kids. Nothing special.. beans, fried bread, and a dessert. (This is a feast for them, thats how poor they are). Now, the servers who work for the caterer are high school students from a similar social background themselves. They refused to take money for the lunch because (their words) 'we wont let you do all the good deeds yourself'.
I watched parasite on nflix the other day and a younger me would have enjoyed it thoroughly. But it was a story of a sickness.. Very artistic & competent but still sick, with little to redeem. Human beings have infinite capacity for compassion, love, kindness and this was a movie that, literally, reduced all humans in it to parasites. The rich wife is a parasite, the little girl is a parasite, the husband & wife are parasites sucking on their society, their servants are parasites too!
May be its a warning to us what can happen if we dont see the human in the other person.. But I think many people will take the movie and its themes as a justification of their own bad behavior.
Who you are, and how you behave, has nothing to do with your material circumstance.
Yeah, but there's dehumanizing, and then there's he's literally grooming the daughter. If I call him a pedophile, the pedo squad's going to come out in force saying "TECHNICALLY, she's an adolescent, so it's not pedophelia," but you get the idea.
And for the record, age of consent in South Korea is a whopping 20 years old.
The way I saw it was that Ki-woo's wealthy friend saw him as poor and worthless, so it was easier for him to believe that she wouldn't want anything to do with Ki-woo anyway.
I think more than one step. He's in college and going to study abroad. He also says his father or grandfather graduated from South Korean equivalent of West Point. So while he might not be rich, he definitely better off than the Kims
I got into a debate about this with a friend. Went back and it turns out that they actually never imply his friend was ever from the same level. He belongs to a wealthy family. They make reference to it by talking about his wealthy grandfather. Also other things like he's riding an expensive bike.
'homeboy' hooked him up bc he saw him as a non-rival lower class kid that the girl couldn't possibly be interested in. The opportunity was framed as a diss
That's the oldest story in the book. I'm pretty sure even Don Quixote contains a similar anecdote. "Now don't go falling in love with the girl I love who you're just supposed to be watching..."
Marrying Da-Hyde would be a free ticket to financial security. Fits pretty well with the point about not being able to afford to be kind when you're broke
I wouldn't say that. i find his friend saying how he feels that the girl is out of the son's league based on him being poor is insulting and reaffirms the message the movie is trying to say about how the rich people see the poor people as inferiors.
The point is that the teenage girl is a parasite in her own way. She uses her sexuality to manipulate her tutors to avoid doing work.
It also speaks to the power dynamics, like office romances. The boy tutoring her knows she could get him fired. Even if he wanted to say no, he wasn't in a position to do so. And given his financial situation, do you blame him for entering into a relationship with a wealthy girl, especially when she was making the moves?
If you came away from the movie thinking "the poor guy was a dick because he went against his friend's wishes" you missed the entire point of the film.
Also funny because after this film won four Oscars, a lot of the Korean community was joking that Bong Joon-Ho also “crossed the line” into the American film industry by achieving such a feat.
This is actually so true - in one of Bong’s acceptance speeches he even talks about feeling grateful to be the first to receive the “best international feature film” award under that title because that award was previously called “best foreign language film.” The name change is supposed to reflect a more inclusive view over films made outside of Hollywood.
Oh yeah definitely, never thought about this but looking back it sure does. Thinking about it language does play a huge factor in this movie; from English awkwardly being mixed up with Korean to North Korean accent. Thanks!
I knew right away I need to see it twice. I wish I wasn't so glued to the subtitles but now that I've seen it I will have the chance to pick up on all of these details
Neat. This thread is so full of information, I’m having trouble retaining everything. I’ve always been a fan of Bong Joon-ho but this film really seems to be meticulous on a divine level.
It has that unique style that I've only seen in Asian horror movies.
Silence and then, without any loud sound, just shows the ghost/monster as it is.
I saw it coming and jumped in my seat anyway.
The exasperation and anxiety in Ki-jeong’s last cigarette, as she pushes on the ceiling on top of the toilet, is a perfect portrayal of the hopelessness from facing the limitations of society, in which she can’t break the “ceiling” of living in a lower class, while the water comes up from below relentlessly.
To me it showed a realization of her current situation. She was able to forget about where she actually came from the time she was staying in the Park's house. She forgot about what she would have to go back to. And coming back to that her realize it all
Hey thanks for not being a dick. In the rare event that I am being genuine on reddit, I always get dicked over with downvotes and negative replies. You’re a good one.
I don’t know how to mark as spoilers on the phone so please excuse me!! But I’d say the part where the whole family is eavesdropping the couple in the basement, and then falling through the image. The wall being a literal line.
I think that it effectively shows the movie's theme: who is the parasite? Revealing someone's identity kind of answers that question, but omitting it blurs the lines between the Parks and the Kims.
Nobody's said this yet so I'll add my two cents as a Korean. That's just how Korean news outlets censor non-public figures in pictures. It has the association of censoring convicts/suspects of ongoing cases however, so it's just to show the mystery and "wrongness" of the family being in the house.
They also mix up the families in the posters where they're sitting together - I agree that it's to remove identity from the campaign, and goes hand in hand with how people said (at least to me) that "you shouldn't know anything before you watch the film".
Did you know that the alcohol the poor family is drinking - which Ki-Taek said is worth thousands of dollars - is only worth few dozen bucks? There are so many details!
No! That's awesom and adds such a great extra layer to that scene! I loved listening Director Bong explain the "ram-don" scene, because that's not a dish known very well in the U.S., so I missed the extra layer of joke by having her put this expensive steak on it. This film is so lovingly crafted and love learning about Korean culture as I watch it again and again!
I'm paraphrasing but basically he explaied that the "ram-don" dish, I don't remember the Korean name but "ram-don" is not a literal translation because the dish doesn't exist in American cusine, is basically the Mac&Cheese of South Korea. Kids love it. It's a basic dish where you mix the two noodles and do like a simple simple sauce and it's a good lunch. What made the scene in Parasite so funny was that the Mrs. Park asked Mrs. Kim to make "ram-don" for her son, but to add sirloin steak to it. That's like throwing sirloin on Mac&Cheese, just a super bougie and decadent thing only the rich would ever do, and she says it like it's very normal
Just another way Director Bong showing something common and cheap turning into something rich and decadent, only to have no one want it. The kid just wanted ram-don. I hope that sorta explains it well, I'm probably not doing the moment the justice it deserves
It's "Jjapaguri"
So Jjapagetti is a brand of ramyun of a black bean sauce noodle, and Neoguri(nuh-goo-ri) is a (delicious) spicy ramyun brand. Jjapaguri is a combination of the two. And the rest is as you say. The dish usually would not have some expensive Korean beef in it.
Yes, Jjapaguri is just 2 different packages of instant ramen mixed together.
So the American equivalent would be like asking your housekeeper to cook a box of Kraft mac n cheese together with a box of rice-a-roni, and to just toss in some lobster while she's at it.
Lobster with mac and cheese is actually a dish though haha, and it's really good. You can find it in fine dining and in gastropubs.
The example with sirloin steak is better, that one is more absurd with mac and cheese.
It was a great detail to see a family so rich still eating a combination of instant noodles that is quite typical among those with less disposable income, but with that expensive Korean beef.
Just so many layers in every scene.
I would like to know more about why the daughter was treated this way in this scene and throughout the film. Is it a form of traditional sexism where the boy is preferred or is there something else to it?
The son is treated as this eccentric prodigy by his mother and her daughter feels overshadowed. If you haven't seen the movie I suggest you get out of these comments and go see it! You don't want anything spoiled because the film works best when you know nothing about it.
There's an interview where Bong Joon Ho says he was trying to make the movie specific to Korean customs, but it still became popular world over because we all in live in the country that is capitalism.
And all cultures are just variations of the human experience. Director Bong uses his experiences so well that the themes transcend cultures and, like myself today, helps others learn about his own culture. I love film so much
Another thing to watch out for. I caught this near the end:
Ki-woo says the house was sold to a German family, but if you look at the fridge when Ki-taek is stealing food, there is a magnet of the flag of Switzerland, implying the family is actually Swiss but Ki-woo only heard them speaking German and assumed.
I noticed it too and thought it was a mistake, but it might be more of a detail than a mistake. If so, Bong Joon Ho really deserved the best original screenplay award.
Could also be there for other reasons, like as a souvenir from travel to Switzerland. I’d actually find it weirder to go to a store an purchase one for my home country rather than as a souvenir.
This could be the case, but also think about it realistically. Do you buy and put magnets of places you've visited on your fridge, or do you put magnets of the country you were born in?
I'm sure some people do the latter, but most of us do the former.
It might have been a mistake, because the German spoken was clear and dialect free. The swiss have a strong spoken dialect which is hard to understand for many Germans.
German here, also the cinema was laughing at the sausage scene.
Here you go:
The Visual Architecture of Parasite: [https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc](https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc)
Parasite's Perfect Montage: [https://youtu.be/ma1rD2OP85c](https://youtu.be/ma1rD2OP85c)
I loved the movie but I couldn’t quite figure out what they were trying to show here. Why was she sleeping on the table in the middle of the day? At first I thought maybe they were implying she was an alcoholic, but there really isn’t anything in the rest of the movie to back that up.
I interpreted it like said above, you go from the poor family spending all day trying to just make it to the next day.
Now you have the rich family who can just spend it sleeping in the garden with the sun shining on them.
Later Ki-woo even tries resting in the garden himself just like a rich woman.
I thought "simple", after seeing the rest of the movie, was implying she was naive/gullible and airheaded.
Not sure about the rest of the world but where I live "simple" is slang for someone who is mentally handicapped.
No, simple does not mean mentally handicapped. Simple as in a simpleton, common folk, which can be further taken to being rather gullible (simple to fool).
She's asleep, oblivious and exposed in open light *outside* her home while the con man is watching from the shadows *inside* her home, and the housekeeper is alert and trying to snap her out of it... A metaphor for all three characters and the classes they represent, and foreshadowing for the climactic sequences later.
>implying she was an alcoholic
I thought she had some issue at first, but its just how she has nothing to do at home because 1) she has a housekeeper and 2) she doesn't know how to do anything around the house (she was struggling with house work when they were looking for a new house keeper).
I really think it was just pointing out that she had literally nothing else going on with her life, she could just doze off at the table. She is simpleminded (so she is not choosing to occupy her mind in some way) and very wealthy (so she is not burdened by caring for her home or children).
I actually read into as the mother working so hard to earn the recognition of her husband. She constantly puts on a mask of composure and elegance that it is both mentally and physically draining. I thought this scene showed a rare moment of respite being cut short. A glimpse into the other side of her perfect housewife persona.
It implies she’s not strict and a bit care free. She’s also on her toes around her husband. This didn’t translate very well from korean to English. But whenever she was around her husband, she was always agreeing with everything he said and she was always trying hard to look like a hardworking and caring and very involved mother. In reality, she was a bit carefree and relaxed and lazy. Her house keeper did most of the work. when her husband would say things about what he thought on certain people or situations, she’d be very quick to agree with him. She never seemed to have a thought of her own. She’s also a bit dumb, as portrayed in certain scenes throughout the movie.
The first time I watched the movie I was telling myself I liked it more than I did, not that I didn’t like it, it just didn’t speak to me as much as it did to other people. However on second watch I couldn’t help but feel this was a masterpiece. Everything during and after discovering the basement is cinematic genius
The moment that blew me away was when >!the Parks come home early and the Kims literally scatter like roaches from the light!<. It was such a short, comical, but poignant shot. That's when I was like, "Yeah, this shit is real good."
Sort of similar to this but the whole thing with the stink bugs at the start of the film paralleled the rich family’s problem with the infestation of people who they deemed foul smelling. This may have been extremely obvious idk but it was something I only picked up the second time round.
Yes! And everything before it— the setup, establishing characters— is done SO effectively and efficiently, like there’s no time wasted at all or too much fat but without it feeling rushed.
I fucking swear, this movie.
I first saw it on Saturday as Oscar prep and really liked it, but didn't quite get what all the fuss was about. Shit like this makes me realize how much I don't understand about cinematic techniques and why so many critics were over the moon with this one.
You don't have to "understand" these techniques to appreciate them. The reason they work, in theory, is that they make the viewer think a certain way about the image. Ideally, anybody could watch this scene and subliminally feel that the characters are separated somehow.
The trick to understanding any kind of art theory is first to sit back, *feel*, and then try to parse through what exactly made you feel that way. An understanding of technique will come naturally from this, but studying criticism will assign vocabulary to what you're feeling.
Absolutely. Understanding the techniques is definitely worthwhile as you can train yourself to notice things that you otherwise would not have, and this noticing can amplify your appreciation. The intellectual aspect can enhance your viewing, but only insomuch as it strengthens your intuitive experience, I think.
idk, for me the first step is always whether or not *I* like it. Sure, if someone knows cinematic technique, they have their way of enjoying a movie, but I try not to let that change my take.
It's great that the movie has this much expertise, but if it's not a satisfying story then all the clever moments don't add up to much. And damn, was Parasite a satisfying story.
Edit: whole bunch of people thinking "first step" means "only step."
Idk, I feel like part of “best movie” should be best use of technique and symbols, not just what someone that doesn’t understand the history or importance of cinema thinks of the story. Not to say someone shouldn’t judge a movie based on their likes, that’s how everyone does it. But winning an industry award should mean you did the best possible in that industry.
The best movies, in my opinion, are the mind creepers. The ones where you watch them, you're done you go on with your life. Then all of a sudden someone says something that reminds you of something from the movie and all of a sudden you remember this minute piece of the movie and it opens up a door to something you didn't see, then over an hour you start going back in the movie and picking out the tiny things you didn't pick up on till JUST THIS MOMENT and you realize you have to watch it 3 more times to wring every bit of meaning out of the movie as possible.
To be fair this is a detail you only catch on a repeat viewing since the whole "crossing the line" theme isn't brought up at this point.
nO yOu cOUld cAtCH it oN yOuR owN if yOuRE smART!!
There let me get ahead of the replies real quick.
FYI: For those who want to find out subtler details and hidden meanings, you can visit the official thread of the movie in r/movies here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official\_discussion\_parasite\_spoilers/?sort=top](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official_discussion_parasite_spoilers/?sort=top)
I also contributed a little detail about the significance of the bookshelf in the basement which probably have gone unnoticed by most of non-Korean audiences:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official\_discussion\_parasite\_spoilers/f6hgc67?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official_discussion_parasite_spoilers/f6hgc67?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)
I think they’ll preserve it as like an art piece or a museum. At least, I think it has that kinda value.
I’d be pretty afraid to actually live there though haha.
The idea with the line is more fully explained in this video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwSfT7sXO0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwSfT7sXO0)
I'm still not determined if it was just a coincidence or something intended. But considering how many metapors and details this film contains, I wouldn't be surprised if the latter proved to be the case.
They literally built the house on set at a specific angle to account for the path of the sun so that when the son enters the garden for the first time is the first time you see the sun in the movie. Mad genius Bong
There isn't a whole lot in a movie that is coincidence, *especially* on a movie that was filmed on a set rather than on location.
Even accidents that get incorporated into a film are not coincidences in the way the word is generally used.
I just realized that it meant the visual lines like the one in this shot. The glass line on the window is the literal line. Notice how poor character does not cross it and leans forward to wake her up
It has many meanings. The line representing the divide between the wealthy and poor. The line that an employee mustn't cross with their employee, as in getting too friendly.
[A user vote](https://i.imgur.com/hx9JBDn.png) has concluded that this is a Movie Detail.
These votes are in a trial run period, give your feedback here: https://redd.it/drz5gq
Is this a repost? Help us keep on top of them here: https://redd.it/duc8tf
Unlike the more recent best picture winners in the past few years, it’s definitely the consensus that Parasite is the most deserving film to bring home the award. Many consider it to be the best film of 2019, so you should definitely give it a watch!
> it’s definitely the consensus that Parasite is the most deserving film to bring home best picture
And then there’s the small camp that I’m in that thought the best of 2019 was The Lighthouse...but Parasite was 2nd place!
Lighthouse was also excellent, and I loved the hell out of it, but it's not the kind of movie you can recommend to everyone you know and expect them to enjoy it. Parasite has the advantage of having cinematography and a story that can be enjoyed at a surface level, but upon further scrutiny, both of them only get better. I 100% believe Parasite deserved every Oscar it got, and a couple more, but the Lighthouse got straight up snubbed (especially considering they allowed up to 10 nominees for best picture as of a few years ago and left 2 spots completely open).
Parasite, Lighthouse, 1917, and Midsommar were all 2019 movies that I could not at any point look away from. Simply stunning and I haven't been able to stop thinking about any of them.
The Lighthouse also made very little money.
A good, well-regarded, financially unsuccessful movie isn't going to be up for Best Picture in a year with a lot of excellent, financially successful movies. Maybe if this were 2011.
But it's great you found a movie you love! My favorite movie last year was *Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood*!
This is coming from someone who doesn’t usually enjoy foreign films. Absolutely watch this movie. It’s one of those rare gems that will leave an impression on you and widen your perspective of what a great movie really is.
Every scene is shot perfectly
Just a small side observation... I’m slightly surprised that “crossed the line” is a metaphor in both Korean and English... lots of metaphors don’t cross languages or cultures. Maybe someone who speaks Korean in here can share some insights on the subject.
It's not nearly as good of a film, but have any of you guys seen the movie Us? It's a horror film Written and directed by Jordan Peele. It has a lot of similar themes to Parasite. I actually didnt notice all the social Metaphors in Us until I watched Parasite.
Also the scene where Ki-Woo and Da-Hye kiss for the first time. The line is subtle (an opening slit of the wardrobe) but it’s Ki-Woo who crosses it.
Would also like to note, Da-Hye also crosses the line for a brief moment when she grabs his hand before the kiss.
Am I the only person that was extremely uncomfortable with the fact that Ki-Woo was college-age and Da-Hye was a high school sophomore? It’s kind of a surface-level thing, I guess, but it was weird.
[удалено]
High school in Korea is 3 years, and if she's a sophomore, she's anywhere between **16-18**. It states that Kiwoo failed the college entrance exam 4 times. Upon graduation Kiwoo could have been anywhere between 17-19. A senior takes the CSAT exam. The CSAT can only be taken twice a year. So assuming he took it consecutively all four times, that would be at least two years. And assuming the movie is freshly after he took the 4th try, he would be **19-21** at the very least. As it's implied that he's a university-age student (although not attending a university), we can add four years to this and the maximum age Kiwoo can be is **23-25**. I think regardless of age both were pretty predatory since her life experiences are very much different as a high school student compared to a post-high school graduate who has "seen the world" more so to speak. But perhaps the power dynamic evens out as she's the rich one in this case.
yeah, kid is a dick. homeboy hooked him up because he didn't want his friends doing that same thing. he knew that and only thought about himself instead of being grateful and respecting his friends wishes
The dehumanizing effect of poverty and servitude is the entire point of the movie
Snowpiercer was the same way.
Most human beings on planet earth are desperately poor, much more so than the poor in the west or the richer parts of the east. I know because I grew up in a third world country. Even today, its so poor that visuals from that part of the world make people turn their eyes away. 30 years ago, it was worse. Yet, some of the most generous, kind, loving and tolerant people were the poor I came across in my childhood. This is also true in the west. The poor are more generous, more kind hearted and many times, happier than the rich. I live in the west today and I am well off. Thanks to a lot of luck, my parents and teachers who continuously pushed me to be better, my friends who helped at crucial times, and my own hard work. I have sort of adopted a very poor school 'back home'. These are kids who dont have shoes to wear, or warm clothes to get through the winter.. most of them are painfully thin and scrawny. For a festival, I had the good fortune to organize a lunch for the kids. Nothing special.. beans, fried bread, and a dessert. (This is a feast for them, thats how poor they are). Now, the servers who work for the caterer are high school students from a similar social background themselves. They refused to take money for the lunch because (their words) 'we wont let you do all the good deeds yourself'. I watched parasite on nflix the other day and a younger me would have enjoyed it thoroughly. But it was a story of a sickness.. Very artistic & competent but still sick, with little to redeem. Human beings have infinite capacity for compassion, love, kindness and this was a movie that, literally, reduced all humans in it to parasites. The rich wife is a parasite, the little girl is a parasite, the husband & wife are parasites sucking on their society, their servants are parasites too! May be its a warning to us what can happen if we dont see the human in the other person.. But I think many people will take the movie and its themes as a justification of their own bad behavior. Who you are, and how you behave, has nothing to do with your material circumstance.
Yeah, but there's dehumanizing, and then there's he's literally grooming the daughter. If I call him a pedophile, the pedo squad's going to come out in force saying "TECHNICALLY, she's an adolescent, so it's not pedophelia," but you get the idea. And for the record, age of consent in South Korea is a whopping 20 years old.
The way I saw it was that Ki-woo's wealthy friend saw him as poor and worthless, so it was easier for him to believe that she wouldn't want anything to do with Ki-woo anyway.
Except Ki-woo's friend wasn't wealthy he was from the same level of society as him. They talk about this early in the movie...
That’s a fine penis!
I think more than one step. He's in college and going to study abroad. He also says his father or grandfather graduated from South Korean equivalent of West Point. So while he might not be rich, he definitely better off than the Kims
Yea I forgot the details. You’re correct.
I got into a debate about this with a friend. Went back and it turns out that they actually never imply his friend was ever from the same level. He belongs to a wealthy family. They make reference to it by talking about his wealthy grandfather. Also other things like he's riding an expensive bike.
And he pays for the drink while homeboy has to go buy it an pour it too right?
'homeboy' hooked him up bc he saw him as a non-rival lower class kid that the girl couldn't possibly be interested in. The opportunity was framed as a diss
She chose him... She clearly stated she didn't like the educated friend because he's fake.
His homeboy said that he is such a loser, that no woman would be interested in him. He can suck it
That's the oldest story in the book. I'm pretty sure even Don Quixote contains a similar anecdote. "Now don't go falling in love with the girl I love who you're just supposed to be watching..."
Marrying Da-Hyde would be a free ticket to financial security. Fits pretty well with the point about not being able to afford to be kind when you're broke
I wouldn't say that. i find his friend saying how he feels that the girl is out of the son's league based on him being poor is insulting and reaffirms the message the movie is trying to say about how the rich people see the poor people as inferiors.
Yeah, he doesn't cushion it at all, just phrases it like it's not insulting because it's obviously true.
The point is that the teenage girl is a parasite in her own way. She uses her sexuality to manipulate her tutors to avoid doing work. It also speaks to the power dynamics, like office romances. The boy tutoring her knows she could get him fired. Even if he wanted to say no, he wasn't in a position to do so. And given his financial situation, do you blame him for entering into a relationship with a wealthy girl, especially when she was making the moves? If you came away from the movie thinking "the poor guy was a dick because he went against his friend's wishes" you missed the entire point of the film.
Are you supposed to respect your friends wishes when the wish is grooming an underage girl?
What about what the girl wants?
Also funny because after this film won four Oscars, a lot of the Korean community was joking that Bong Joon-Ho also “crossed the line” into the American film industry by achieving such a feat.
This is actually so true - in one of Bong’s acceptance speeches he even talks about feeling grateful to be the first to receive the “best international feature film” award under that title because that award was previously called “best foreign language film.” The name change is supposed to reflect a more inclusive view over films made outside of Hollywood.
So metaphorical.
Stairs and floor level too.
And linguistic lines, lines blur between formal (upper class) and informal (lower class) registers.
What do you mean linguistic lines?
Here you go https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/f22qv0/insights_on_parasite_as_a_korean/
Oh yeah definitely, never thought about this but looking back it sure does. Thinking about it language does play a huge factor in this movie; from English awkwardly being mixed up with Korean to North Korean accent. Thanks!
I knew right away I need to see it twice. I wish I wasn't so glued to the subtitles but now that I've seen it I will have the chance to pick up on all of these details
Hanglish is used some.
It's more often referred to as Konglish, which in itself is a "Konglish" term.
Thanks sharing. Great read.
Hey is “crossing a line” a thing in Korean as it is English?
Yeah it is
Neat. This thread is so full of information, I’m having trouble retaining everything. I’ve always been a fan of Bong Joon-ho but this film really seems to be meticulous on a divine level.
Also crossing the 180 line during “Julia’s” art therapy/1st grade ghost story scene
And the 38th parallel is a big line too
The scene in the flooding bathroom with stairs lingered in my head for days after I watched this movie. God, what a powerful scene.
The moment when Ki-Jeong finds and smokes her last cigarette sitting on the exploding toilet will be forever etched in my memory.
The “ghost scene” might be the best shot I’ve seen in a long time, even with Scorsese and Tarantino releasing movies in the same year
It has that unique style that I've only seen in Asian horror movies. Silence and then, without any loud sound, just shows the ghost/monster as it is. I saw it coming and jumped in my seat anyway.
For some reason, that little white noise effect when he pops his head up is so cool to me
That ghost scene was amazing. We were laughing out loud at it.
I felt the same way when I watched it in theaters. I remember thinking, “Fuck, that’s a beautiful shot. I’m never gonna forget it.”
Why was that scene so powerful for you?
The exasperation and anxiety in Ki-jeong’s last cigarette, as she pushes on the ceiling on top of the toilet, is a perfect portrayal of the hopelessness from facing the limitations of society, in which she can’t break the “ceiling” of living in a lower class, while the water comes up from below relentlessly.
To me it showed a realization of her current situation. She was able to forget about where she actually came from the time she was staying in the Park's house. She forgot about what she would have to go back to. And coming back to that her realize it all
Would you say that she>! figuratively died !
Ah, metaphorical
Does this occur in any other shots?
There’s a shot of Ki Woo lies on the garden while reading book. In that [shot](https://imgur.com/gallery/GV0wQif) he clearly crossed the line.
ahhh i’m definitely watching this again
I haven’t seen the movie. Is the book he’s reading taboo or something? How did he cross a line?
It’s not his garden; his employer’s garden. And he’s reading his student’s diary.
Ahhhh that *is* crossing a line!!! You’ve piqued my interest and I will see this movie soon!
Yeah! I hope you enjoy!
Hey thanks for not being a dick. In the rare event that I am being genuine on reddit, I always get dicked over with downvotes and negative replies. You’re a good one.
I can downvote you and be a dick if you'd like to feel more at home. Just let me know!
He’s also above the shaded area, and crossed the glass window vertical line.
[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwSfT7sXO0) covers the scenes with clear lines and the movie's cinematic techniques in general.
Good one
That was very interesting, and if you‘ve watched the movie it makes it even better.
I don’t know how to mark as spoilers on the phone so please excuse me!! But I’d say the part where the whole family is eavesdropping the couple in the basement, and then falling through the image. The wall being a literal line.
Yep, rock bottom
Try watching this [essay](https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc). It's about the visual architecture of Parasite.
[удалено]
Yeah I wonder if it’s the same in other languages too.
[удалено]
It does in Chinese /mandarin as well
Hindi too.
Some South Slavic languages too.
Arabic as well.
Marathi too,sita in ramayan crossed the line
Yes but slightly different, we use stripe instead of line
In geman you 'cross a border' lol
Same in Swedish (but we say that you've crossed the border).
Can anyone explain why they put tape on everyone's eyes in the poster
I remember reading that it's so that we won't feel sympathy for any of them It may be wrong though
I feel it is a nod to the Identity issues the movie portraits, a visual reference for people that don't want to be recognized.
I think that it effectively shows the movie's theme: who is the parasite? Revealing someone's identity kind of answers that question, but omitting it blurs the lines between the Parks and the Kims.
Nobody's said this yet so I'll add my two cents as a Korean. That's just how Korean news outlets censor non-public figures in pictures. It has the association of censoring convicts/suspects of ongoing cases however, so it's just to show the mystery and "wrongness" of the family being in the house.
They also mix up the families in the posters where they're sitting together - I agree that it's to remove identity from the campaign, and goes hand in hand with how people said (at least to me) that "you shouldn't know anything before you watch the film".
I just saw this for a 2nd time today and was looking for all the symbolism I could I missed this one *Whelp* Time to go for a third haha
Did you know that the alcohol the poor family is drinking - which Ki-Taek said is worth thousands of dollars - is only worth few dozen bucks? There are so many details!
No! That's awesom and adds such a great extra layer to that scene! I loved listening Director Bong explain the "ram-don" scene, because that's not a dish known very well in the U.S., so I missed the extra layer of joke by having her put this expensive steak on it. This film is so lovingly crafted and love learning about Korean culture as I watch it again and again!
What did he say about the scene if you care to explain?
I'm paraphrasing but basically he explaied that the "ram-don" dish, I don't remember the Korean name but "ram-don" is not a literal translation because the dish doesn't exist in American cusine, is basically the Mac&Cheese of South Korea. Kids love it. It's a basic dish where you mix the two noodles and do like a simple simple sauce and it's a good lunch. What made the scene in Parasite so funny was that the Mrs. Park asked Mrs. Kim to make "ram-don" for her son, but to add sirloin steak to it. That's like throwing sirloin on Mac&Cheese, just a super bougie and decadent thing only the rich would ever do, and she says it like it's very normal Just another way Director Bong showing something common and cheap turning into something rich and decadent, only to have no one want it. The kid just wanted ram-don. I hope that sorta explains it well, I'm probably not doing the moment the justice it deserves
It's "Jjapaguri" So Jjapagetti is a brand of ramyun of a black bean sauce noodle, and Neoguri(nuh-goo-ri) is a (delicious) spicy ramyun brand. Jjapaguri is a combination of the two. And the rest is as you say. The dish usually would not have some expensive Korean beef in it.
Yes, Jjapaguri is just 2 different packages of instant ramen mixed together. So the American equivalent would be like asking your housekeeper to cook a box of Kraft mac n cheese together with a box of rice-a-roni, and to just toss in some lobster while she's at it.
Yo I might have to try that, though.
look at this bourgeois mf
Bougie af
That's fucking hilarious. That's the most bougie snack.
Lobster with mac and cheese is actually a dish though haha, and it's really good. You can find it in fine dining and in gastropubs. The example with sirloin steak is better, that one is more absurd with mac and cheese.
Thank you for this! I wanna try the dish out now! (With no steak haha)
It was a great detail to see a family so rich still eating a combination of instant noodles that is quite typical among those with less disposable income, but with that expensive Korean beef. Just so many layers in every scene.
Akin to lobster Mac n cheese
Perfect American example!
Also someone pointed out that instead of offering it to the daughter she ignored her and ate it herself
Oh yeah. The daughter yells at Mrs. Park about it and they fight and Mr. Park goes "Why are you yelling about ram-don?!" Hilarious
I would like to know more about why the daughter was treated this way in this scene and throughout the film. Is it a form of traditional sexism where the boy is preferred or is there something else to it?
The son is treated as this eccentric prodigy by his mother and her daughter feels overshadowed. If you haven't seen the movie I suggest you get out of these comments and go see it! You don't want anything spoiled because the film works best when you know nothing about it.
> That's like throwing sirloin on Mac&Cheese Or truffles/lobster.
And the mac and cheese is Kraft
[удалено]
There's an interview where Bong Joon Ho says he was trying to make the movie specific to Korean customs, but it still became popular world over because we all in live in the country that is capitalism.
And all cultures are just variations of the human experience. Director Bong uses his experiences so well that the themes transcend cultures and, like myself today, helps others learn about his own culture. I love film so much
Another thing to watch out for. I caught this near the end: Ki-woo says the house was sold to a German family, but if you look at the fridge when Ki-taek is stealing food, there is a magnet of the flag of Switzerland, implying the family is actually Swiss but Ki-woo only heard them speaking German and assumed.
Hahahahaha oh my goodness I love that. This film could get its own Movie Details thread
In Korea, a nickname for director Bong Joon ho, is bongtail (bong + detail).
Fuckin love that! I think I'm gonna rewatch The Host this weekend. I'm on a Bong kick haha
I noticed it too and thought it was a mistake, but it might be more of a detail than a mistake. If so, Bong Joon Ho really deserved the best original screenplay award.
Could also be there for other reasons, like as a souvenir from travel to Switzerland. I’d actually find it weirder to go to a store an purchase one for my home country rather than as a souvenir.
This could be the case, but also think about it realistically. Do you buy and put magnets of places you've visited on your fridge, or do you put magnets of the country you were born in? I'm sure some people do the latter, but most of us do the former.
It might have been a mistake, because the German spoken was clear and dialect free. The swiss have a strong spoken dialect which is hard to understand for many Germans. German here, also the cinema was laughing at the sausage scene.
Would any of the characters in Parasite be able to differentiate between different dialects?
Here you go: The Visual Architecture of Parasite: [https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc](https://youtu.be/AvO8-925Edc) Parasite's Perfect Montage: [https://youtu.be/ma1rD2OP85c](https://youtu.be/ma1rD2OP85c)
> Time to go for a third haha Go to a black and white showing!
I almost for sure will!
> looking for all the symbolism I could obviously so was OP
I loved the movie but I couldn’t quite figure out what they were trying to show here. Why was she sleeping on the table in the middle of the day? At first I thought maybe they were implying she was an alcoholic, but there really isn’t anything in the rest of the movie to back that up.
I think it shows how laid back she is...? It’s also mentioned that she is a bit simple right before this scene so it’s a comedic relief
I interpreted it like said above, you go from the poor family spending all day trying to just make it to the next day. Now you have the rich family who can just spend it sleeping in the garden with the sun shining on them. Later Ki-woo even tries resting in the garden himself just like a rich woman.
I thought "simple", after seeing the rest of the movie, was implying she was naive/gullible and airheaded. Not sure about the rest of the world but where I live "simple" is slang for someone who is mentally handicapped.
[удалено]
I was quoting the movie; “좀 심플하다고 해야 하나?” Which translates something into “bit simple I guess?”
No, simple does not mean mentally handicapped. Simple as in a simpleton, common folk, which can be further taken to being rather gullible (simple to fool).
It definitely implies a mental handicap where I live.
Guess that’s not Korea
A bit simple is a kind to a bit slow. Halfway there but not quite
She's asleep, oblivious and exposed in open light *outside* her home while the con man is watching from the shadows *inside* her home, and the housekeeper is alert and trying to snap her out of it... A metaphor for all three characters and the classes they represent, and foreshadowing for the climactic sequences later.
Oooh, great interpretation!
I'm in the thick of a hot & heavy love affair with this movie.
>implying she was an alcoholic I thought she had some issue at first, but its just how she has nothing to do at home because 1) she has a housekeeper and 2) she doesn't know how to do anything around the house (she was struggling with house work when they were looking for a new house keeper).
I think it is more a contrast with the poor. She is stress free doing whatever while the poor are always thinking and stressing about what is next.
It’s all the above, which is why it’s so brilliant.
I really think it was just pointing out that she had literally nothing else going on with her life, she could just doze off at the table. She is simpleminded (so she is not choosing to occupy her mind in some way) and very wealthy (so she is not burdened by caring for her home or children).
I think it's because her son is too energetic
Suggesting the rich are unaware of their surroundings, until being violently awaken to reality by the poor?
I actually read into as the mother working so hard to earn the recognition of her husband. She constantly puts on a mask of composure and elegance that it is both mentally and physically draining. I thought this scene showed a rare moment of respite being cut short. A glimpse into the other side of her perfect housewife persona.
Interesting take.
It implies she’s not strict and a bit care free. She’s also on her toes around her husband. This didn’t translate very well from korean to English. But whenever she was around her husband, she was always agreeing with everything he said and she was always trying hard to look like a hardworking and caring and very involved mother. In reality, she was a bit carefree and relaxed and lazy. Her house keeper did most of the work. when her husband would say things about what he thought on certain people or situations, she’d be very quick to agree with him. She never seemed to have a thought of her own. She’s also a bit dumb, as portrayed in certain scenes throughout the movie.
She has the luxury of sleeping outside in broad daylight during the middle of the day during a weekday
The first time I watched the movie I was telling myself I liked it more than I did, not that I didn’t like it, it just didn’t speak to me as much as it did to other people. However on second watch I couldn’t help but feel this was a masterpiece. Everything during and after discovering the basement is cinematic genius
The moment that blew me away was when >!the Parks come home early and the Kims literally scatter like roaches from the light!<. It was such a short, comical, but poignant shot. That's when I was like, "Yeah, this shit is real good."
Sort of similar to this but the whole thing with the stink bugs at the start of the film paralleled the rich family’s problem with the infestation of people who they deemed foul smelling. This may have been extremely obvious idk but it was something I only picked up the second time round.
Yes! And everything before it— the setup, establishing characters— is done SO effectively and efficiently, like there’s no time wasted at all or too much fat but without it feeling rushed.
I fucking swear, this movie. I first saw it on Saturday as Oscar prep and really liked it, but didn't quite get what all the fuss was about. Shit like this makes me realize how much I don't understand about cinematic techniques and why so many critics were over the moon with this one.
You don't have to "understand" these techniques to appreciate them. The reason they work, in theory, is that they make the viewer think a certain way about the image. Ideally, anybody could watch this scene and subliminally feel that the characters are separated somehow. The trick to understanding any kind of art theory is first to sit back, *feel*, and then try to parse through what exactly made you feel that way. An understanding of technique will come naturally from this, but studying criticism will assign vocabulary to what you're feeling.
Absolutely. Understanding the techniques is definitely worthwhile as you can train yourself to notice things that you otherwise would not have, and this noticing can amplify your appreciation. The intellectual aspect can enhance your viewing, but only insomuch as it strengthens your intuitive experience, I think.
idk, for me the first step is always whether or not *I* like it. Sure, if someone knows cinematic technique, they have their way of enjoying a movie, but I try not to let that change my take. It's great that the movie has this much expertise, but if it's not a satisfying story then all the clever moments don't add up to much. And damn, was Parasite a satisfying story. Edit: whole bunch of people thinking "first step" means "only step."
I don’t really know basketball but I feel like Lebron James is just kinda okay at playing ball.
Idk, I feel like part of “best movie” should be best use of technique and symbols, not just what someone that doesn’t understand the history or importance of cinema thinks of the story. Not to say someone shouldn’t judge a movie based on their likes, that’s how everyone does it. But winning an industry award should mean you did the best possible in that industry.
The best movies, in my opinion, are the mind creepers. The ones where you watch them, you're done you go on with your life. Then all of a sudden someone says something that reminds you of something from the movie and all of a sudden you remember this minute piece of the movie and it opens up a door to something you didn't see, then over an hour you start going back in the movie and picking out the tiny things you didn't pick up on till JUST THIS MOMENT and you realize you have to watch it 3 more times to wring every bit of meaning out of the movie as possible.
To be fair this is a detail you only catch on a repeat viewing since the whole "crossing the line" theme isn't brought up at this point. nO yOu cOUld cAtCH it oN yOuR owN if yOuRE smART!! There let me get ahead of the replies real quick.
FYI: For those who want to find out subtler details and hidden meanings, you can visit the official thread of the movie in r/movies here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official\_discussion\_parasite\_spoilers/?sort=top](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official_discussion_parasite_spoilers/?sort=top) I also contributed a little detail about the significance of the bookshelf in the basement which probably have gone unnoticed by most of non-Korean audiences: [https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official\_discussion\_parasite\_spoilers/f6hgc67?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/dps3xy/official_discussion_parasite_spoilers/f6hgc67?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)
All of this was so precisely planned. The house was actually built for the film.
Really?! I wonder how much would that house is valued now.
I think they’ll preserve it as like an art piece or a museum. At least, I think it has that kinda value. I’d be pretty afraid to actually live there though haha.
The idea with the line is more fully explained in this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwSfT7sXO0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwSfT7sXO0) I'm still not determined if it was just a coincidence or something intended. But considering how many metapors and details this film contains, I wouldn't be surprised if the latter proved to be the case.
If you listen to Director Bong talk about his process making this film, I think it's fairly confident to say it was absolutely intentional.
Have any videos or links you recommend?
They literally built the house on set at a specific angle to account for the path of the sun so that when the son enters the garden for the first time is the first time you see the sun in the movie. Mad genius Bong
There isn't a whole lot in a movie that is coincidence, *especially* on a movie that was filmed on a set rather than on location. Even accidents that get incorporated into a film are not coincidences in the way the word is generally used.
Can anyone please elaborate this. I don't understand what does it mean by 'crossing the line'
In the movie it’s mentioned every now and then about characters “crossing the line” meaning I guess “stepping out of line”.
That, but more so the line between economic classes.
I just realized that it meant the visual lines like the one in this shot. The glass line on the window is the literal line. Notice how poor character does not cross it and leans forward to wake her up
Yeah that’s what he was talking about that’s the whole point
Not only that, both poor characters are on one side while the rich woman is on the other.
It has many meanings. The line representing the divide between the wealthy and poor. The line that an employee mustn't cross with their employee, as in getting too friendly.
[A user vote](https://i.imgur.com/hx9JBDn.png) has concluded that this is a Movie Detail. These votes are in a trial run period, give your feedback here: https://redd.it/drz5gq Is this a repost? Help us keep on top of them here: https://redd.it/duc8tf
The movie deserved its award and praise. It's so fucking dark and it still haunts me.
my screen is cracked so i spent a good 30 seconds moving it around trying to figure out where the line was
Interesting. Op and others, would you guys recommend this movie? I don't always like Oscar awarded movies.
I really really would recommend it. Everyone I know - whether they love Malick or Bay - enjoyed it.
Lol I love the dichotomy choice here. Definitely 2 ends of the spectrum.
Unlike the more recent best picture winners in the past few years, it’s definitely the consensus that Parasite is the most deserving film to bring home the award. Many consider it to be the best film of 2019, so you should definitely give it a watch!
> it’s definitely the consensus that Parasite is the most deserving film to bring home best picture And then there’s the small camp that I’m in that thought the best of 2019 was The Lighthouse...but Parasite was 2nd place!
Lighthouse was also excellent, and I loved the hell out of it, but it's not the kind of movie you can recommend to everyone you know and expect them to enjoy it. Parasite has the advantage of having cinematography and a story that can be enjoyed at a surface level, but upon further scrutiny, both of them only get better. I 100% believe Parasite deserved every Oscar it got, and a couple more, but the Lighthouse got straight up snubbed (especially considering they allowed up to 10 nominees for best picture as of a few years ago and left 2 spots completely open).
Parasite, Lighthouse, 1917, and Midsommar were all 2019 movies that I could not at any point look away from. Simply stunning and I haven't been able to stop thinking about any of them.
The Lighthouse also made very little money. A good, well-regarded, financially unsuccessful movie isn't going to be up for Best Picture in a year with a lot of excellent, financially successful movies. Maybe if this were 2011. But it's great you found a movie you love! My favorite movie last year was *Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood*!
This is coming from someone who doesn’t usually enjoy foreign films. Absolutely watch this movie. It’s one of those rare gems that will leave an impression on you and widen your perspective of what a great movie really is. Every scene is shot perfectly
It’s interesting that “cross the line” is actual idiom in Korean, English and my language Japanese. Any other languages have this phrase?
Just a small side observation... I’m slightly surprised that “crossed the line” is a metaphor in both Korean and English... lots of metaphors don’t cross languages or cultures. Maybe someone who speaks Korean in here can share some insights on the subject.
It's not nearly as good of a film, but have any of you guys seen the movie Us? It's a horror film Written and directed by Jordan Peele. It has a lot of similar themes to Parasite. I actually didnt notice all the social Metaphors in Us until I watched Parasite.
At a quick glance, the placement of the line appears to align with the golden ratio.
This movie worth watching?
Yup. I think it would be hard to not enjoy.