j* movie reviews 2020

Parasite (2019)

A glorious exploration of class-issues that couldn't live up to its hype.

Everyone raved about this, still does. And it's dangerous place to come to a film, when everyone has already decided they love it. For me, the hype went too high and thus the film could never reach it.

First things first, lets talk about the elephant in the room, which is "what the hell kind of film is it anyway?" It pitches as a lot of things, and many people, probably myself included, interpret the trailer mostly as horror. But it's not. It's not quite thriller either... it's almost like heist, but where the jewels are having a job. It does dabble in moments from a lot of genres, to be fair. With a few laughs thrown in. But black comedy? Not sure. Drama, yes. Possibly this is part of it's appeal - no-one is sure what they've watched at the end? Drama-dy heist is my bet.

What is great is that it has a really excellent exploration of class-issues; rich vs working class. We have an unemployed family slowly heisting their way into the household of a rich family as staff. It's pretty fun, pretty devious, and obviously driven by survival. There are a lot of relationships going on here, and in some ways that's good, and in others it's a bit murky.

There are lots of issues of class talked about, like the smell of subway riders, the importance of word of mouth - it's who you know, the improbability of marrying into a wealthy family, and my favourite, the need to put on an accent. And I pondered if, relative to other films about class, if that is what gets this one such a good reception. Is it that the subtitles are erasing a working-class accent, thus allowing a middle-class audience to identify more strongly with the struggle of the poor family?

If the workers were dubbed with a bogan twang, would this film still be as moving?

I pondered while watching it if Parasite achieved what "Us" was attempting, a story of a hidden underclass rising to the surface and causing drama for the well-off topsiders? I felt there was a lot of overlap between these two films, although Parasite is far, far superior at what it does.

It's beautiful, it's interesting, but maybe it's a bit too metaphorical rock.

J* gives it 3 stars.

PS. Metaphorical rock- wtf! Set me up for disappointment. Such a good rock, so underplayed.

PPS. Other great recent movies on class division I'd recommend would be Green Book, I Tonya, Joker, Passengers... probably a few more I can't think of right now.