Maybe you're the one who isn't a good judge of character, Min. Wealth has rendered her completely helpless, and she often spends her days napping on the couch or purchasing items for the house. 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! The topic of class is one that Bong Joon-ho has a clear fascination with. She takes great pride in her work as a housekeeper, and loses her job unexpectedly after the Kims make her peach allergy look like active tuberculosis. I had my doubts over who the one would be, but it seems to be Mr Kim. Dont buy eggs. The film is packed with social commentary, thrilling moments, and plenty of meaty writing worthy of a full , FREE: StudioBinders Screenwriting Software , The Ultimate Guide to Call Sheets (with FREE Call Sheet Template), How to Break Down a Script (with FREE Script Breakdown Sheet), The Only Shot List Template You Need with Free Download, Managing Your Film Budget Cashflow & PO Log (Free Template), A Better Film Crew List Template Booking Sheet, Best Storyboard Softwares (with free Storyboard Templates), What is an Antagonist in a Story Definition & Examples, What is Telos: The Ultimate Guide to Understand Telos for Video Marketing, What is an Anecdote Definition, Examples, and Functions, What is a Memoir Definition, Examples in Literature & Film. The Kim family, living in poverty, struggles to make ends meet by doing menial jobs such as folding pizza boxes for a local pizza shop. The main themes are capitalism, deception, and violence. Challenge getting through his family's bad luck. But rather than simply getting out of the Park house and trying to make it in the outside world, he goes on a rampage at the party for Da-song. As with great stories, every seeming-antagonist has their own reasons for doing what they do, making it nearly impossible to clearly identify an antagonist as we sympathise with their actions. He is a generally congenial but snobbish man. Characters are the players in our stories. Sam Kench is an internationally-awarded screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and film critic. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. I tried to avoid it. 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. Maybe its the crazy eyes, the receding hairline, the fact that he manually presses buttons on the bunker wall to turn on individual lights on the entrance staircase into the house (to show his gratitude towards Mr Park for providing for him, but giving the Parks the impression that the lights at the staircase were always sensor lights), or just plainly the fact that hes a fucking mole person hiding out in someones house. This causes Da-song to faint, and Mr. Park (Lee Sun Kyun) immediately demands that Ki-taek drive them to the hospital instead of tending to Ki-jung. To explain Parasites ending, we turn to the directors own words: You know and I know - we all know that this kid isn't going to be able to buy that house. He takes a liking to Ki-jeong and trusts her, but unjustifiably suffers the most at the hands of Moon-kwangs family and the Kim family, suffering two seizures resulting from shock. Ki-taek and Chung-sook, the patriarch and matriarch, are having trouble finding employment, and their children, Ki-woo and Ki-jung are trying to help in whatever way they can. It seems that Ki-jeong had the most passive hand to play in the situation despite setting off the entire disastrous plot, never going as far as Ki-woo as he forms a romantic relationship with the Parks daughter, or harbouring as much resentment against the Parks as Mr and Mrs Kim. After he gets the job, Ki-Woo proceeds to fetch employment for the rest of his family members--sister Ki-Jung as an art tutor, father Ki-Teak as a chauffeur, and lastly mom Chung-Sook as a housekeeper. He fatally wounds Ki-jeong, stabbing her through the chest as the party guests erupt into panic and scatter. The visual effects open/close all folders General The Kim family The Kim family as a whole Kim Ki-taek Kim Chung-sook Kim Ki-woo Kim Ki-jeong The Park family The Park family as a whole Park Dong-ik Park Yeon-kyo Park Da-song Park Da-hye Other characters Min Moon-gwang Geun-sae Yoon Previous Index Next 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. And then Bong takes a hard right turn that asks us what were watching and sends us hurtling to bloodshed. Official synopsis: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan. The film starts with the Kim family, a South Korean family struggling with poverty in a poor neighborhood in an unnamed city. Lee Jeong-eun, who plays Moon-Gwang the housekeeper, also provided the vocalization for Okja the super pig in Bong Joon-hos previous film. The Kims get trapped in the house, hiding under the coffee table when the Parks arrive home. I left the cinema with my heart racing thats just how impactful this movie was. How to Capture the Perfect Light. For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here. Ki-jung is Ki-woo's sister, a smart and tough young woman who does not suffer fools. The young man changes his name to Kevin and begins tutoring Park Da-hye (Jung Ziso), who immediately falls for him, of course. 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. Staircases are an evocative symbol in Bong Joon Hos Parasite, a biting drama critics have named one of the years best films. Managing to never get caught up to that point, though, was definitely a feat on its own merits, even if it was in a basement. Hes going to get his whole family into this house. Writing Exercise: Think about each character. I would LOVE to hear from other viewers on their theories on the film, so please feel free to share them with me. The social commentary of "Parasite" leads tochaos, but it never feels like a didactic message movie. Bong Joon-ho 's masterful film Parasite is a wicked and brutal satire about wealth disparity. Parasite: Every Main Character Ranked By Intelligence, Parasite: 7 Reasons It's Bong Joon-Ho's Best Movie (& 7 It's Not), The 10 Worst Family Movies Of All Time, Ranked, 5 Reasons Why HBO's Parasite Is A Good Idea (& 5 Why The Movie Should Be Left Alone), Parasite: D&D Alignments Of The Main Characters. Ki-Jung's family was much better off in her childhood when her father owned a cake shop. Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Living in Park family's beautiful mansion in the wealthy neighborhoods of Seoul, South Korea. This sets off Ki-taek, who stabs Park in the chest before running away and escaping into the basement bunker unseen. Not just because the film went full circle with Mr Kim hiding out in the bunker, forever condemned to hide and steal from the houses occupants, but also due to the small hints dropped throughout the film: Its also difficult to identify the main antagonist of the film. However, to qualify for the job, Ki-Woo must forge his identity from a man in his mid-20s with no formal education to a student studying business at an elite university. In contrast to her brother Ki-Woo, Ki-Jung is too well-grounded to look for a potential love interest. He is traumatised not once, but twice at the sight of Moon-kwangs husband, and is also the youngest and most innocent character. Kim's familywill be reminded of that chasm and the cruelty of inequity in ways you couldnt possibly predict. 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. 31 Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Grew up. He even tells Ki-woo that the best plan is to have no plan, because then you will never be disappointed when the plan doesnt play out the way you wanted it. He quickly convinces the mother Yeon-kyo, the excellent Jo Yeo-jeong, that the son of the house needs an art tutor, which allows Kevins sister Jessica (Park So-dam) to enter the picture. Like the Park family's young boy, Ki-Woo used to be a Scout as a child. 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. I just felt that frankness was right for the film, even though it's sad." 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. Synopsis. Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han, story by Bong Joon Ho. It's unclear how the parasites would tie into the Dominion War, but perhaps the show could do a bit of retcon to make a connection like season 2 did by connecting the Travellers with Gary Seven. Parasite essays are academic essays for citation. Parasite is Bong Joon Ho's newest flick, and it's dark, twisted, and totally fascinating. Each has their own distinct backstory, personality, world view, and voice. In his art, Da-song perfectly captures the mans relentless gaze, and even his receding hairline. Parasite broke a number of financial records as well, including the highest foreign film opening weekend of all time for the UK box office, and a number of records with the Indie Box Office. Min-hyuk offers Ki-woo his tutoring job while he's away noting that the family of the girl he tutors is not necessarily the best judge of character. Youve never seen a movie quite like Parasite. Dammit. The film continues with Ki-woos narration. Very soon, the Kims also manage to displace the longstanding housekeeper to make room for Mrs Kim to join the operation. Theres something off about Moon-kwangs unnamed husband. Ki-woo hasnt yet executed the vision, recalling his fathers earlier advice that the only way to fulfill a plan is to not make one at all. Mr and Mrs Park make themselves comfortable on the couch as our protagonists nervously wait for an opportunity to sneak out. After getting referred for a tutoring gig, he orchestrates a plan in which his whole family begins working for the same wealthy family. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or find something interesting to read. Thats all I can say without giving away major spoilers! It is one of the most effective satires in recent memory. as an art student at a middle-class family. He has the hardest part to play in getting rid of Moon-gwang. He also meets Da-hye, the flirtatious teenager he will be tutoring, and Da-song, her younger brother, for whom Mrs. Park is trying to find an art tutor. 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. His decision to kill Mr. Park at the end is a shocking and perhaps poor one, but not entirely unjustified. She is easily deceived by Ki-jeong's framing of the Park family chauffeur as explained by Dong-ik. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques. Ex-housekeeper Moon-kwang claims that she had left something important behind in the basement and was there to collect it. During the hazing scene as the Kim family enjoy free fumigation services, Mr Kim is the only one visibly not affected by the toxic fumes. Profession art tutor. The crimes of Moon-kwang and her husband are obvious too, leeching off the Park familys wealth to harbour the husband in the house, and threatening to out the Kims for their scam despite their own complicity. That he also manages to go into hiding in the Park's basement as did Geun-sae is pretty impressive given all the people that had to be going in and out of the house. As we enter the house, we see that the same design sensibilities are used the house has plenty of wide, open spaces and minimalistic furniture. Follow along with the Parasite script as StudioBinder is used to recreate what the actual script breakdown may have looked like. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. 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. This was foreshadowed early in the film when Mr Kim flicks a stink bug off the table in his house he is the stink bug to Mr Park, a smelly, insignificant insect that is unwelcome, and it is ultimately his stink that triggers his aggression towards Mr Park. Its at this stage that the film makes you realise that no matter how low on the ladder of destitution the Kim family was (before they got employed by the Parks), there is always someone on the rung below you. The scene where we discover the bunker easily has the highest tension of all scenes in the movie. She leaves her panties behind in the Parks car as shes being driven home by their original chauffeur, causing Mr and Mrs Park to fire him on the assumption that he had been doing the deed in their car. Parasite is directed by the South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, who also directed the sci-fi action film Snowpiercer (which was among the highest-grossing films of all time in South Korea) and Okja (which has won multiple film awards and was also nominated for Palme dOr in 2017). 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. Their credentials were just as questionable as hers were. This article was published more than3 years ago, Note: This story, as one might assume from its headline, contains major spoilers for Parasite.. 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. Parasite tells a story about disparate families, but also about disparate social classes, who are scrambling in a society that doesn't set them up to be protagonists and by default, pushes . But theres this: In a screenplay, characters exist for a reason. There is more to Da-song than meets the eye. And what do we do when we see an actual masterpiece in this era of critics crying wolf? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Official Screenwriting Blog of The Black List. 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. Find out how you match to her and 5500+ other characters. He is obsessed with keeping his employees controlled and hates nothing more than when one of his charges "crosses the line." Parasite has a lot worthy of analysis and it has a lot to say. director Bong Joon-hos insightful and engaging comedy/thriller became one of the most talked-about films of the year and set a new precedent for the mark a South Korean movie can leave on United States movie-going audiences. Some time ago, she and her husband purchased the beautiful mansion from its architect. Through the analysis of the audio-visual language of the movie, this article starts with the storytelling of Parasite, enumerates and analyses the elements that appear in the movie to reflect the gap between the rich and poor. Dong-ik isn't a terrible guy, but he isn't a great one either. One clear way to explain the movie is: Parasite is about class. Class is the primary target of social commentary within Parasite. For example, Mr Park making callous comments at the expense of the Kim family which eventually lead to him getting stabbed, Mr Park pressuring Mr Kim to make a fool of himself at Da-songs birthday party with the threat of money, and the Parks only concerning themselves with Da-songs seizure despite the fact that Ki-jeong, someone who works for the Park family, had been stabbed at the birthday party. She returns to the house to check on her husband, who is living in a secret subterranean bunker. When he is given the opportunity to work as Mr. Park's driver, he figures out how to be the best driver he can be, and to provide some light companionship to Mr. Park. The films accolades speak for itself it won the prestigious Palme dOr award at this years Cannes Film Festival, which is an award of the highest order at one of the worlds most renowned film festivals. For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here. Ki-jeong is usually one step ahead of Ki-woo and really solidifies getting the Kim family into the Park family home. What they dont realise is the effects their actions have. (Note: One of these ranked characters is a huge spoiler for one of the plot's biggest twists, so if you still haven't seenParasite, get on it and then come back and read this!). Parasite Character Analysis (Avoiding Spoilers) Grew up. to infiltrate rooms in . Moon-kwang reveals that a large cabinet in the basement is actually hiding the entrance to a secret underground bunker, where her husband (Park Myung-hoon) had been living in secret the past few years. I noticed that the house, the main setting for the plot, is always perceived by the audience in wide shots to show the expanse of space available. Parallels are drawn between the two families to show that poverty and social status can sometimes really just be a matter of circumstance. Stick with me here. Parasite has proven to be a groundbreaking achievement for South Korean movies. This time it's true. Interests scouting. At some points, it seemed that the music didnt match the situation, such as instilling fear or anxiety in the listener when there was really nothing to worry about at the moment, but the sense of foreboding always pays off later in the film. Living in a musty semi-basement in the slums of Seoul, South Korea. Upload images to make storyboards and slideshows. After being added Hulus catalogue for exclusive streaming, it became the platforms most streamed film in both the independent and foreign film categories, reaching even more audience members and wowing them with its immaculate presentation and resonant themes. Moon-kwang eventually succumbs to a concussion, leading to her husband desperately smashing his head into the light switches in the bunker to signal Help me in Morse code. 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. At every point, the viewer understands whose perspective were supposed to follow due to the tracking shots as we move with each character. They get Ki-taek a job as Mr. Park's driver, after Ki-jung leaves her underwear in the car to make it look like his previous driver was having a sexual relationship in the car. When the Kims move into the Parks' house, Ki-woo notes that Ki-jung seems to fit in well with the trappings of wealth, and can carry off a luxurious lifestyle naturally. Her charismatic personality makes her excellent at fooling the Parks. 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