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Good review, very thorough
shareThank you :)
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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake
MovieChat Forums > Gisaengchung (2019) Discussion > [deleted]
I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece because there are a few problems, but it's a great movie and the best of the year so far.
shareWhat didn’t you like about the film?
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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake
As much as they claimed the Parks were gullible, I felt like all the incidents occurring in such a short amount of time should have still made them think something strange was going on.
I also thought the ending was a little weak. Other than those things, 9/10.
I agree that it isn't a masterpiece -- that's a term that is overused, I think -- but I will not be surprised if it remains my favourite film of the year. I wasn't concerned by the Parks' 'gullibility' -- they lived in a privilege bubble, and Bong deliberately exaggerates this to portray the extreme class difference -- but I agree that the ending could have been better.
shareForget this year, Parasite is the best movie I've seen in maybe three years. I really took notice to the editing which is something I appreciate, but don't often notice.
shareOkay, my bad and I take my initial comment to your first post back. For some reason the thread didn't show completely until I finished posting.
shareIt's an absurdist satire - the film doesn't really strive to depict realism.
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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake
Wow, you sound ignorant and probably one of those who smell funny. J/K. The least you can do is explain your opinions as the film was fresh and it could become a masterpiece. The story became interesting as the movie unfolded. There is a complex and simple understanding that we all have of society and its classes. This movie pointed it out and took it several steps deeper and made it comedic and tragic at the same time. It's a wonderful, funny, sad, and tragic story all rolled up into one. Unfortunately, I don't think Hollywood will give it an Oscar for Best Picture. We are still too nationalistic to evaluate international movies together. I think Parasite will win for best foreign picture as it did at the Golden Globes.
shareI enjoyed your review. I wish we could go through the movie and chat about some of the symbolism and interpretations of some of the Korean references that I didn’t quite understand. For example, what did the flooding mean?
shareThank you :)
The flooding accentuated the differences between the two families: one family lives above the hills, and the other lives below a flood zone.
The rich house feels like an isolated castle, the poor house couldn’t have any privacy, because this gap between rich and poor really draws from access to privacy. All the pedestrians and cars passing by had to be able to see inside the poor family’s semi-basement home. Semi-basement means you’re half above the ground, half beneath it. They still want to believe that they’re over ground, but carry this fear that they could fall completely below. It’s that limbo state that reflects their economic status.
The spectacular flood that flows down from the wealthy area of the city and destroys the Kims’ entire neighborhood with waist-deep sewage water is a reference to this almost dystopian class stratification. That entire flood sequence was important thematically, because water always flows from top to bottom, so it felt like water flowing from the rich neighborhood to the poor neighborhood ultimately submerged the home of the protagonists.
The flood sequence is the turning point for the Kims, and not because all of their possessions are destroyed, but because of the sharp contrast between their situation at the beginning and at the end of the same night. For example, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik), the Kim son, starts the evening daydreaming about marrying into the Park family while reverently reading Park Da-hye (Jung Ji-so) teenage journals, and finishes the night crawling through water and clinging onto the scholar rock, a lead-heavy symbol of everything he wants to become, but which ultimately crushes his skull.
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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake
Gosh, thank you again for that very thoughtful response. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen the movie so I’ve really forgotten so many of the little details that puzzled me. When I watch it again, I will be sure to ask you!
In your answer, you portray the symbolism of the flood so vividly that it does convey the desperation of the family. It’s a brilliant film. I really enjoyed it and I hope it does well at the Oscars.
My pleasure :) Yes, I hope it does well, too... it was my favourite film of 2019!
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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake
I read a synopsis.
It sounds like a very obvious message film.