Movie Parasite That Won Academy Award (spoilers)

[Sojourner]

I loved this movie.
...
The movie is a social commentary. If you think of the 3 families in the movie each one is reacting to their circumstances. The huge difference between the wealthy family and the two families who work for them is very stark. They live in different worlds.

I think this movie deserved every award that it won.

+1
I watched it with virtually zero expectations and really enjoyed it. I would consider it much more in the "black comedy" category than horror or thriller, etc. Clearly, we all have different tastes, but IMHO it was one of more inventive, riveting, and thoroughly entertaining movies I've seen in the past few years. Certainly much better than 98% of the bland, mindless, uninspired fare that Hollywood tends to churn out on a regular basis (Batman v Superman, anyone?).

 

[Amethyst]

But it does have parasites! So the title isn't really deceptive

I didn’t like it. Just based on the name I put it on thinking it was a germ/biohazard movie. Boy was I wrong there.

 

[harllee]

I would be interested to know why people liked it. To me it was a story about people in different classes--rich and poor-- and all of them treat each other awful. There is a lot of lying, cheating, violence, meanness, disrespect, etc. Usually in a movie there is some good person that saves the day--not here--there are no good people. There is not a single character that I liked. No one I would like to get to know in real life. There is a young kid and usually I like young kids in movies but this one is awful. The move is not really funny and I did not really think it was scary like a horror movie should be. One other thing I hated--there is quite a bit of gratuitous foul language which somehow even seems worse when it is in captions.

 

[Toocold]

I enjoyed parasite. The director has a history of making films that shows society in a skewed way. Similarly, snowpiercer and okja (both on netflix) were interesting as well. If you like formulaic plots, I can understand why these wouldn't be enjoyable.

Along the same lines, I also enjoyed Joker, which was also praised and got many awards.

 

[Dtail]

I would be interested to know why people liked it. To me it was a story about people in different classes--rich and poor-- and all of them treat each other awful. There is a lot of lying, cheating, violence, meanness, disrespect, etc. Usually in a movie there is some good person that saves the day--not here--there are no good people. There is not a single character that I liked. No one I would like to get to know in real life. There is a young kid and usually I like young kids in movies but this one is awful. The move is not really funny and I did not really think it was scary like a horror movie should be. One other thing I hated--there is quite a bit of gratuitous foul language which somehow even seems worse when it is in captions.

As differences in class structures here become wider and there is less middle class, who knows if this type of situation can become more common?

 

[harllee]

Of all the movies I watched last year (didn't see many but I saw a few) I liked A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks the best (love Tom Hanks movies). A Beautiful Day was the polar opposite of Parasite.

 

[Sojourner]

Of all the movies I watched last year (didn't see many but I saw a few) I liked A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks the best (love Tom Hanks movies). A Beautiful Day was the polar opposite of Parasite.

That's interesting, because I found A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood kind of disappointing. I was one of those kids growing up in the 70s who loved Mr. Rogers and watched his show every day after school, without fail. But the movie just didn't do much for me. I thought it was a bit boring and focused too much on the stories and lives of people other than Fred Rogers. Tom Hanks was brilliant in it, though, as usual.

 

[timbervest]

I thought Parasite was particularly appropriate for today's situation and the desperation that people are facing and the steps they will take to fight against what are probably insurmountable odds. Each character, both in either of the three families, as well as the three family units themselves face challenges and disappointments that they deal with in different ways. The story was compelling, kept my interest, and although perhaps somewhat gratuitously bloody at the end, I thought was very well made and the characters captured their individual struggles. I don't think there needs to be a sympathetic character to make a film good. Cinematography-wise, I thought the direction and filming was excellent. This is art as much as it is entertainment that challenges the viewer. But to each his own.

 

[JoeWras]

Tom Hanks was brilliant in it, though, as usual.

DW's favorite observation of this is to imagine you were in a time machine in 1981 (during the Bosom Buddies years), and jumped to today. "Tom Hanks brilliant as usual?" What??

 

[bluelight]

DH and I have very different tastes in movies, but we both thought it was very well done. I considered watching it a 2nd time to catch any nuances that I missed the first time, I know people who watched it multiple times, but didn't.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I would be interested to know why people liked it. To me it was a story about people in different classes--rich and poor-- and all of them treat each other awful. There is a lot of lying, cheating, violence, meanness, disrespect, etc. Usually in a movie there is some good person that saves the day--not here--there are no good people. There is not a single character that I liked. No one I would like to get to know in real life. There is a young kid and usually I like young kids in movies but this one is awful. The move is not really funny and I did not really think it was scary like a horror movie should be. One other thing I hated--there is quite a bit of gratuitous foul language which somehow even seems worse when it is in captions.

Not every film is a Mr. Rodgers type film. Not every movie has good people only in it. I saw some resourceful people use devious tactics and got a chuckle from it.

You like movies where a good person saves the day. That's not what this movie is about.

And it isn't scary because it's not a horror movie.

 

[John Galt III]

Harll, I liked the movie because 1. I saw it in a movie theater 2. it had good cinematography, imo 3. interesting sub-plots (although somewhat unbelievable) 4. filmed in a foreign country, and it was interesting to see all the Korean ways of doing things 5. some other thing I can never define that makes me like a movie. ' I just like it'. And yes, you are right, too many movies and tv series are too full of awful people, I agree. I tried to get into 'Killing Eve' the tv series that was hyped so much, but it was awful, imo, just a bunch of awful people running around, not interesting at all, imo.

 

[harllee]

I did like the fact that Parasite was filmed in foreign county and I did not mind the captions. I have never been to S. Korea but I had assumed it was a modern country with a good economy so I was surprised that people who seem educated and appeared to me to be qualified for jobs had to live in such a horrible basement apartment. For those you who know more about S. Korea, is there such a housing shortage that people cannot find a decent place to live? And why could the 4 main characters (who seemed to be smart, educated and in good physical shape) not find a real job?

 

[MichaelB]

Here’s a criticism of the critics by Alex Tabarrok (economist at GMU). He thinks the “conventional wisdom” missed the point entirely. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/06/the-gaslighting-of-parasite.html

The blog post has spoilers.

 

[harllee]

Here’s a criticism of the critics by Alex Tabarrok (economist at GMU). He thinks the “conventional wisdom” missed the point entirely. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/06/the-gaslighting-of-parasite.html

The blog post has spoilers.

I agree with Alex Tabarrok--the movie story line makes no sense at all.

 

[Katsmeow]

I would be interested to know why people liked it. To me it was a story about people in different classes--rich and poor-- and all of them treat each other awful. There is a lot of lying, cheating, violence, meanness, disrespect, etc. Usually in a movie there is some good person that saves the day--not here--there are no good people.

There are no heroes in this movie. But, I didn't feel everyone in the movie was a terrible person. I guess maybe the wealthy husband...I had little sympathy for him. His wife was fairly clueless. As for the other two families, they did some bad things but I found the characters to be fairly complex. I would never do what they did. I can easily say that. But, then, maybe they felt that way at one point but their circumstances changed them...

Here’s a criticism of the critics by Alex Tabarrok (economist at GMU). He thinks the “conventional wisdom” missed the point entirely.
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/06/the-gaslighting-of-parasite.html

The blog post has spoilers.

Oh, my! I don't agree with that article at all. When he said the wealthy family did absolutely nothing wrong, I thought this must be a parody article like something from the Onion. But, I think he was actually serious. Suffice it to say, I don't think that the movie was designed to say that the wealthy family was just a poor hapless victim of circumstances who did nothing wrong.....


Anyway, I came to the movie with no expectations and found it entertaining and thought provoking so that was a real win.

 

[Amethyst]

Isn't this the question we ask about most criminals and con-artists? (Then again, when they do get a "real job," they have a tendency to make a horrible mess of it).

And why could the 4 main characters (who seemed to be smart, educated and in good physical shape) not find a real job?

 

[dixonge]

I would not consider it Terrence Malick's best. Sometimes I love his movies, and sometimes they are a bit beyond me. I did not love Tree of Life, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Tree of Life is the type of movie that causes me to take note of the director, so I can completely avoid any of their other movies. I have to be able to at least follow a plot. ToL was more like a cinema version of a dream, or a hallucination. Not really my cup of tea...

 

[Amethyst]

That won't be hard, as he only made 8 or 9 movies. I don't like all his movies either. I think his "The Thin Red Line" is a very good war movie (anti-war, really, like the best of them).

While I do prefer a movie to have a good plot, story, and characters, I can also enjoy it from a purely cinematic viewpoint - that is, the way the director and camera operators frame each scene; what the movie "looks like," for lack of a better term. Malick's movies are usually beautifully framed.

Tree of Life is the type of movie that causes me to take note of the director, so I can completely avoid any of their other movies. .

 

[eytonxav]

These days, does the academy actually hand out awards based on excellence??

 

[Katsmeow]

These days, does the academy actually hand out awards based on excellence??

They did with Parasite.....

 

[harllee]

They did with Parasite.....

So you thought Parasite was an excellent movie? Not me! I guess we are all different...

 

[Ally]

Parasite has been on Hulu, so I watched it about 1/2 way. It was interesting in some ways, but I didn’t like the way it way heading, so I quit.

 

[canadianguy]

The movie Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture last year and several other awards. I usually try to watch the Best Picture honoree so I got on the list to get it from my public library. I finally got it last week and watched it. Yikes! I just don't know what to say--I think it was probably the worst movie I have ever seen. The movie was made in S. Korea and has captions--but that is not the problem. The acting is OK and the filming is Ok but it is about the worst story line I have ever seen. How in the world could this movie win the Academy Award

Has anyone else seen this movie and what did you think?

Maybe I am just out of touch.

No you are not out of touch. I actually couldn’t watch the entire movie. I found that I disliked the one family so much and they were so manipulative and cruel that I couldn’t continue watching it. Give me a happy ending any day.

 

[urn2bfree]

I loved this movie. I knew really nothing about it before watching it. My son wanted to watch it on his birthday so we did. When the movie takes that turn in the middle of it, I was totally shocked.

The movie is a social commentary. If you think of the 3 families in the movie each one is reacting to their circumstances. The huge difference between the wealthy family and the two families who work for them is very stark. They live in different worlds.

I think this movie deserved every award that it won.

+1