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Original title: 기생충
2019 Movie South Korea Drama, Thriller, Comedy 133 min Ages 15+
By: Bong Joon-ho, Bong Joon Ho With: Song Kang-ho, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park So-dam, Choi Woo-shik, Lee Jung-eun

The Kims - mother and father Chung-sook and Ki-taek, and their young adult offspring, son Ki-woo and daughter Ki-jung - are a poor family living in a shabby and cramped half basement apartment in a busy lower working class commercial district of Seoul. Without even knowing it, they, especially Mr. and Mrs. Kim, literally smell of poverty. Often as a collective, they perpetrate minor scams to get by, and even when they have jobs, they do the minimum work required. Ki-woo is the one who has dreams of getting out of poverty by one day going to university. Despite not having that university education, Ki-woo is chosen by his university student friend Min, who is leaving to go to school, to take over his tutoring job to Park Da-hye, who Min plans to date once he returns to Seoul and she herself is in university. The Parks are a wealthy family who for four years have lived in their modernistic house designed by and the former residence of famed architect Namgoong. While Mr. and Mrs. Park are all about status, Mrs. Park has a flighty, simpleminded mentality and temperament, which Min tells Ki-woo to feel comfortable in lying to her about his education to get the job. In getting the job, Ki-woo further learns that Mrs. Park is looking for an art therapist for the Parks' adolescent son, Da-song, Ki-woo quickly recommending his professional art therapist friend "Jessica", really Ki-jung who he knows can pull off the scam in being the easiest liar of the four Kims. In Ki-woo also falling for Da-hye, he begins to envision himself in that house, and thus the Kims as a collective start a plan for all the Kims, like Ki-jung using assumed names, to replace existing servants in the Parks' employ in orchestrating reasons for them to be fired. The most difficult to get rid of may be Moon-gwang, the Parks' housekeeper who literally came with the house - she Namgoong's housekeeper when he lived there - and thus knows all the little nooks and crannies of it better than the Parks themselves. The question then becomes how far the Kims can take this scam in their quest to become their version of the Parks.

Filmium rating
91%

Festival Achievements

Filmfest München 2019
Selections:
Wettbewerb CineMasters

Mood

Dark
Humorous
Satirical
Thoughtful
Thrilling

Cast & Crew

Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon Ho
Han Jin-won
Cho Yeo-jeong
Park So-dam
Lee Jung-eun
Jang Hye-jin
Choi Woo-shik
Song Kang-ho
Lee Sun-kyun

Adaptation

Play-Based
Source Material From 2013 Play

Budget

Constructed Set
Mid-Budget
Vfx-Heavy

Cinematic Technique

Careful Blocking
Composition
Framing
Vfx For Exterior Scenes
Visual Metaphors
Wide-Angle Shots

Narrative Structure

Multi-Layered
Nonlinear
Twist

Pace

Deliberate
Dynamic
Engaging
Slow-Paced
Tension-Building
Unpredictable

Runtime

Extended Scenes
Long Runtime
Slow Build

Soundtrack

Baroque Elements
Minimalist Piano
Tense Atmosphere

Style

Black Comedy
Cinematic
Realistic
Stylized
Thriller

Time-Period

Contemporary
Modern South Korea

Central Conflict

Class Disparity
Infiltration Deception
Social Inequality

Characters

Chauffeur
Housekeeper
Poor Family
Rich Children
Wealthy Family

Ending

Ambiguous
Social Critique
Tragic

Historical Context

Contemporary South Korea
Urban Poverty
Wealth Gap

Key Plot Points

Family Scheme
Murder And Chaos
Underground Bunker

Plot

Class Conflict
Deception
Family Infiltration
Social Inequality
Urban Seoul

Setting

Luxurious House
Luxurious Mansion
Semi-Basement
Semi-Basement Apartment
Seoul
Urban Seoul

Shooting Location

Jeonju
Seoul
Set Construction

Theme

Capitalism Critique
Class Conflict
Social Inequality
Wealth Disparity

Genre

Black Comedy
Drama
Social Drama
Thriller

Audiences

Adults
Film Enthusiasts
Socially Conscious Viewers

Titles

Parasite
Parasite: Black & White
Parásitos
ชนชั้นปรสิต
パラサイト 半地下の家族:2019
기생충

Awards

Academy Award For Best Picture
Best Director
Best International Feature
Best Original Screenplay

Box Office Success

$263 Million Worldwide
Highest-Grossing Korean Film

Critical Reception

96 Metacritic
99% Rotten Tomatoes
Universal Acclaim

Festivals

Cannes Palme D'Or

Ratings

Highly Rated
Top Films Of The Decade

Reception

Academy Awards
Award-Winning
Critical Acclaim
Golden Palm
Oscar Best Picture

Production Countries

South Korea

Release Year

2019
mowizz ID: 7c721d5c-e609-487a-8472-bf810390d2dc
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