11/17/19 Parasite (2019) - 8+/9-/10

Fan-fucking-tastic!

 This is the kind of film that reinvigorates a passionate love with movies. Truly top notch filmmaking from top to bottom. Sumptuously framed that felt like a mix of Ozu and Park... Tremendously paced out, with the momentum of an impending death boulder... So dramatically twisty and turny but it felt so natural and well laid, like the best of Hitchcock, without any gimmicks...Just so damn good, as a technical achievement, dramatic experience, and something of worth to say. I was 1000% in, invested and always excited. It isn’t an “edge of the seat”-er but there is a palpable tension and mind racing machinations; it captured all of me, as I hope it does you.

 The cast and crew are utterly excellent. The director Bong Joon Ho has delivered his glorious magnum opus. But, if you have only seen this or Snowpiercer, I would suggest Memories of a Murder or Mother, being strong and similar forays. Kang-ho Song bores into your soul, not only in this but also in Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Thirst - he is a wonderful actor. Sun-kyun Lee is smooth here but you should definitely follow him on his crazy trek in A Hard Day. Yeo-jeong Jo is so engaging with her gullible wife here; I haven’t seen any of her other work, as she has done a lot of TV work, but Vampire Cop Ricky sounds fun. Woo-sik Choi is our protagonist here and the weight of life’s struggle weighs heavy on his brow, but he has a different struggle with death in the pretty good Train to Busan from a few years back. Hye-jin Jang brings levity and familial power, but there are less jokes in the similarly brilliant Poetry. Jinmo Yang cut this masterpiece together, really driving the deft pacing and story turns, but did you know he worked on the Schwarzenegger and Johnny Knoxville vehicle The Last Stand (woof!)? And, last but oh so not least, Kyung-pyo Hong was the outstanding cinematographer here, providing for both stylized and refined shots that just oozed skill and thought; he also did Burning, Save the Green Planet! And a personal fave of mine Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War. You need to see Parasite, but there is much more out there offered to you if you are adventurous enough to give them a chance.

 The explorations of class disparity and the madness it provokes. The walking up the hill from their prison basement confines, there is a constant verticality that tied both motion, status, and presence together. Moving up and being up were intertwined, visually and metaphorically. The symbology of a “wealth stone” being coveted by those without it, unable to shake the burden of its weight and the need to have it, until it crashes down in the most violent of means, was powerful A gift that ends up being a monkey's paw. God, I could really go on and on about the elements of this film, but this is supposed to be brief.

 It did not seem like what Parasite finally brings would be the tale they were going to tell, but it struck flush in the final act. The whole twisted wonder sweetly nestles in that hidden haunting of doom; a house of cards that can only come down in some fantastic fashion. Still, despite the brilliant score crashing through or the trapping symmetrical vistas whispering to me the gut punch was coming, the intense metamorphing winds in this crazy road were unprecedented. It was just so good. This may be the finest film to come out this year.