After Chung-sook stabs Geun-sae with a meat skewer, Mr. Park grabs the keys from under him, but in the process, scowls at Geun-sae's smell. One clear way to explain the movie is: Parasite is about class. Class is the primary target of social commentary within Parasite. However, things went downhill from there. Kevin has a much deeper plan. The operatic music and effects when Mrs Park spotted Moon-kwang coughing into a tissue as she ascends the stairs into the house. Her charismatic personality makes her excellent at fooling the Parks. These two powerhouse awards ceremonies rarely overlap and are comprised of entirely different audiences and judges and with entirely different viewing criteria and preferences. Mr Kim manages to trap Moon-kwang and her husband in the basement and quickly returns to join his family hiding in the living room. Ki-jeong, Ki-woos sister, is the main brain behind the scam operation that brings in the rest of her family into the Park residence. Mr. Park is the head of the Park household. She is very nice, but not especially deep or compassionate. Seeing an opportunity to get his artistically talented sister, Ki-jung, a job, Ki-woo says that he knows someone named "Jessica" who went to college in Illinois, who might be perfect for the job. On his birthday, a day like today, he had snuck down to the kitchen to eat his birthday cake, but Moon-kwangs husband had snuck up the basement stairs and made eye contact with Da-song. Synopsis. To access over 70 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here. Why he trusts Kim Ki-woo given what we know and learn about him is a valid question. It is somehow, and Im still not even really sure how, both joyous and depressing at the same time. Parasite concludes where it begins, in the semi-basement apartment. Profession English tutor. No. as Chung-sook ( Ki-taek's wife ), Berlinale 2023 Highlights, Part Two: Reality, Manodrome, The Adults, Inside, Golda, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson Feted at SBIFF 2023, Revisiting Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Tragically Common: Jamie Dack, Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker on Palm Trees and Power Lines. The cultural swell around Parasite is much deserved and hopefully leads more audience members to check out Parasite director Bong Joon-hos previous films and more South Korean cinema in general. Ki-woo makes some rather poor choices, too, though. There are plenty of subtle, comedic moments in the film that gave me a good chuckle, and some even managed to get a LOL from me. Min-hyuk is a friend to the Kim family, primarily Ki-woo. Ki-taek, who is hiding under the table, hears Mr. Park discuss his unsavory smell. Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-contending "Parasite" masterfully explores class divisions in Korea with voyeuristic delight. "Parasite"is so perfectly calibrated that theres joy to be had in just experiencing every confident frame of it, but then thats tempered by thinking about what Bong is unpacking here and saying about society, especially with the perfect, absolutely hauntingfinal scenes. "Parasite" concludes where it begins, in the semi-basement apartment. When a writer does their best, digging deep into their characters, tapping into their souls, the players in our stories magically lift up off the printed page and come to life in a readers imagination. Ki-jeong is usually one step ahead of Ki-woo and really solidifies getting the Kim family into the Park family home. Lets shift gears from a Parasite summary to a Parasite movie analysis. What ensues is a sneaky ploy on the Kim familys part to slowly insert themselves into the lives (and house) of the Park family as they attempt to build a better life for themselves. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Its a conversation starter in ways we only get a few times a year, and further reminder that Bong Joon-ho is one of the best filmmakers working today. His sister is dead, his fathers whereabouts unknown. *MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!! Grew up as an art student at a middle-class family. 31 Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Grew up. Surprisingly, Ki-Woo turns out skilled in his artifice: as Ki-Woo explains, "I dont consider this a crime. Ki-woos friend is actually in love with the Park daughter, proclaiming that he would officially date her once she enters university, and that he trusts no one else to be her stand-in tutor except for Ki-woo. Very soon, the Kims also manage to displace the longstanding housekeeper to make room for Mrs Kim to join the operation. Official synopsis: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan. Ki-woo, the son, is gifted a scholars stone or suseok by a friend and given a recommendation for a tutoring job with a wealthy family. RELATED: The 10 Worst Family Movies Of All Time, Ranked. As silly an instruction this is, the Kim family respects his wishes and starts to comedically choke and cough as the fumes fill up their apartment, with only Mr Kim indifferent to the toxic fumes. How could they possibly compare to a couple leeching off the Parks like this? Ki-woo as the Park daughters English tutor, Ki-jeong as the Park sons art tutor/therapist, Mr Kim as the familys chauffeur, and Mrs Kim as the housekeeper. Director Bong Joon-Ho himself has described Parasite as a cross-genre film, dipping its toes into the regions of dark comedy, satire, thriller and family drama. Ki-jeongs death was also foreshadowed when she was the only one who got injured in the process of hiding their house party from the Parks as they returned from their failed camping trip. The cinematography was also amazing. After the run-in with Moon-gwang and her husband, Ki-woo becomes exceedingly attached to the lucky rock that his friend gave him, and carries it around as a totem. Moon-kwangs appearance at the Park residence is when the film truly starts to take a shocking, sharp turn in pace and direction. Ki-jung gets the job after impressing Mrs. Park with some pseudo insights about psychology, and Mrs. Park hires her as both a tutor and an art therapist. Min-hyuk believes that Ki-woo poses no threat to his chances of eventually connecting with his student, Da-hye, and he knows that Ki-woo needs the money, so it is a kind gesture. Writing Exercise: Think about each character. He translates the code and realizes that it is a message from his father, who is living in the bunker. Moon-Gwang has been living in the mansion as the architect's housekeeper since it was first built. Parasite represents the most focused and refined approach to class as a subject that Bong Joon-ho has achieved, and thats certainly saying something given his impressive body of work. Stay up to date on the news from Silicon Valley, and how to take back control of your data and devices. There are plenty of examples of subtle foreshadowing all throughout this opening act that circle back around by the end of the film. They didn't fold the Pizza boxes correctly. It is his success in passing as a competent English tutor that allows him to invite Ki-jeong into the home and so on. Ex-housekeeper Moon-kwang claims that she had left something important behind in the basement and was there to collect it. Chung-sook takes over as the housekeeper. Mr Kim is even needlessly proud when he discovers his childrens deceptive skills. After expressing some doubt at the lies he would have to sell to land the tutoring gig, Ki-woo enlists the help of the artistic Ki-jeong to forge university papers for him in order to land the job. characters are most like you. The only thing I can think of is that the original housekeeper was in contact with the original tutor of the family. Mr Kim is visibly affected, even sniffing his own shirt. This vertical comment on status is illustrated cleanly in this alternate poster for the film, without spoiling the sub-basement reveal. Script Analysis: "Parasite" Part 3: Characters | by Scott Myers | Go Into The Story Write Sign up Sign In 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Parasite by Bong Joon-ho. Reading scripts. I would LOVE to hear from other viewers on their theories on the film, so please feel free to share them with me. The scene where we discover the bunker easily has the highest tension of all scenes in the movie. Today and maybe forever the Kims remain underground. Parasite essays are academic essays for citation. Improving the family's financial situation is the most important goal for Ki-Woo, and he remains hopeful of his future. Yes, he receives help from Ki-jeong and Ki-woo with the peaches, but he is the one who must do the talking afterward. Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. The Parks seem to be happy too. Ki-jung begins working for the parks under the guise of an art-therapy teacher. Some time ago, she and her husband purchased the beautiful mansion from its architect. For more Parasite movie analysis, check out our article on how Bong Joon-ho creates meaning through set dressing. Its no accident that the lower-class protagonists happen to have the single most common surname in South Korea. Parasite study guide contains a biography of Bong Joon-ho, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Yes, it wouldn't have taken as much skill as she demonstrated to convince Yeon-gyo to be Da-song's new art therapist, but she plays the part so well that it positions her charge an exorbitant sum of money. The rest of the Kims scramble to clean up the mess they had made, sweeping everything under the couch and hiding under the living room table. At the start of the film, we are introduced to the Kims, a family struggling to live under impoverished conditions. GradeSaver "Parasite Summary". Mr Kim is eventually condemned to live and hide in the bunker, truly fulfilling the parasite-like behaviour of leeching of its host at someone elses expense. In contrast to her brother Ki-Woo, Ki-Jung is too well-grounded to look for a potential love interest. As the night wears on, the Kims manage to escape, running through the torrential downpour to reach their basement apartment in the slums. Just as he called Snowpiercer his film about class revolution set in a dystopia his "hallway movie," he has called Parasite his "stairway movie." It is an upstairs-downstairs film that. This simple, comedic entry sets up the level of poverty that the Kim family faces. The Parks are not immune to Bongs scrutiny though the mother (Cho Yeo Jeong) is portrayed as a truly kind woman whose naivete befalls her, Mr. Park, her husband, can be quite horrible but this is a moment of clarity for Ki-taek, who realizes his family will always be seen as less than by people like the Parks. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Living in Park family's beautiful mansion in the wealthy neighborhoods of Seoul, South Korea. Parasite was not just the first South Korean film to win the foreign language prize at the Oscars but also the first foreign language film from any country to win the overall best picture prize. Staircases are among the many things in Parasite that could be considered metaphorical, as becomes a refrain of the Kims son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo Shik). On that fateful day, he ran from the backyard with blood on his hands not Mr. Parks, as one might assume, but his own daughters. It wasnt just awards records that Parasite broke in 2019. Moon-kwang herself is a suspicious character; she must definitely be unhappy with Mrs Kim for being her replacement (although shes unaware that it was due to the Kims meddling that got her fired), but why did she have to visit the house on, of all nights, the night that it was raining cats and dogs? In truth, Ki-Jung never received any college art education, but she now claims to be a graduate of the University of Illinois and a specialist in children's art therapy, working at a special pay rate. As mentioned, the film contains a huge, exciting twist that drives the plot ahead at full speed, so do yourself a favour and DONT spoil it for yourself! In a trance-like state as his daughter is bleeding out on the ground, Mr Kim is triggered by Mr Parks balking at the stench and fatally stabs him in the chest before running out the house. He's pretty checked out as to what's going on in his home until it's ready to smack him in the face. Kim Ki-woos life changes when a friend offers to recommend him as an English tutor for a girl hes been working with as the friend has to go out of the country for a while. Parasite exploded this past weekend on Oscar night when it became the first international film to win four Academy Awards, including the coup de grace, Best Picture. The Kim father and children quickly take cover as Mrs Kim decides to let Moon-kwang in. Today we discuss the characters in the script for Parasite. Its evident that the Kim family lives in squalor. However, she makes a grave mistake by letting Moon-gwang back into the Park family home, thereby unleashing a Pandora's box she can't close. At its exact mid-point, Parasite undergoes a massive tonal shift. More books than SparkNotes. The patriarch of the Kim family. Mr Park runs over to Moon-kwangs husband and pushes his body aside to retrieve the car key, but not before he wrinkles his nose at the smell that Moon-kwangs husband exudes. If he is ever caught, he may suffer the death penalty for committing a murder. He fatally wounds Ki-jeong, stabbing her through the chest as the party guests erupt into panic and scatter. as Yeon-kyo ( Mr. Park's wife ), Choi Woo-shik The lawn itself is huge, and is the first thing that any visitor sees. The emotionally-affecting resonance of the ending is the perfect cap to the wonderfully layered social commentary spread throughout the film. Josh Weber is a cinephile and avid reader based in the eastern shore of Maryland. The script for "Parasite" will get a ton of attention as it's one of those clever twisting and turning tales for which the screenwriter gets the most credit (Bong and Han Jin-won, in this case), but this is very much an exercise in visual language that reaffirms Bong as a master.Working with the incredible cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong ("Burning," "Snowpiercer") and an A-list . He stands in the woods near the Parks' house, which has been bought by Germans, and observes that the censor light is turning on and off in a patternMorse Code. Parallels are drawn between the two families to show that poverty and social status can sometimes really just be a matter of circumstance. Required fields are marked *. Geun-sae is Moon-gwang's husband, who is living in the bunker underneath the Parks' house, hiding out from the loan sharks who want to kill him. describe ki-jung. *SPOILER WARNING* Major, major spoilers ahead! I was disappointed to find that not many people had done an in-depth analysis on the film, but thats what Im here for! As their house party goes on and the rain pours down relentlessly, the doorbell suddenly rings its the old housekeeper that Mrs Kim had displaced. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. Bong shows us this vision: Ki-taek ascends the bunker stairs and embraces his son. 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