What is the message of the movie parasites? At first it is easy to think that the parasites to whom the film gives its name are the poor family, the Kims. But if we pay a little more attention to detail and symbology, the message could change. Who are the real parasites? Are there good guys and bad guys in this movie? Are not the members of the rich family parasites of a society which they do not represent and which they only use for their benefit?
Parasites: message, symbology and details of the film
It has been several months since Postposmo we dedicate to Parasites a very special item. In it we detailed ten meaningful flashes of genius that the viewer might have missed. Parasites (8,1 in FilmAffinity) It is a film that is worth watching online because it is full of layers, each with its own message.
Who are the Parasites from director Bon Joon ho's movie?
- Being from a wealthy minority, the Parks they have most of the citizens of seoul at their service. Let's look at the ease with which they fire and exchange their employees
- Let's look at how they deal with their surroundings: criticizing the subway atmosphere, despising the smell of people of different status or sacrificing the days off of others in exchange for financial compensation.
- What is the first thing the Kims do when they see themselves in a position of superiority in front of two people who are on a step even lower than theirs? Treat them with contempt and deny them any empathy, thus evidencing one of the main messages of the film. We are not facing a revolution of the proletariat, but rather a race to stop being one. And that everything continues to go as it always has. The poor do not help each other but trip each other.
- Do you consider that value judgments are made about who is the good guy or the bad guy in this story?
Details and symbology: what is the message of the film parasites?
Today, to celebrate Parasites is already officially (Oscar!) the best film of the year, we bring 20 more anecdotes and a video with the best ones. You can see Parasites online The film or in one of the many Spanish cinemas that, once the global success of the film has been confirmed, have decided to reschedule it on their billboards.
20 essential details of Parasites
With this series of details, curiosities and symbolism we can better understand how absolutely everything we see in Parasites it has a meaning. Nothing is accidental. Constant contrast.
- The rock or boulder is loaded with symbolism. As soon as he arrives at the Kim home, his economic situation improves. Things start to go wrong when the rock is about to momentarily leave the basement (to beat up the drunk who urinates on his street, although the son eventually uses a bottle instead of the rock at the express request of the father). This happens when it rains. Namely: the rock is about to get wet. The rock, as a symbol of the earth, does not get along with its opposite: Water. Finally, when the rock leaves the Kim home, his life is turned upside down. The rock is a compass to the fate of the Kims. Confirmation of this is that at the end of the film, and before the impending disaster, the rock gets completely wet. In fact, it even floats, which would perhaps mean that it was hollow inside.
- At the beginning of Parasites the poor family drinks cheap beer. When their life improves we see them drinking cans of Sapporo (Japanese imported beer and, therefore, more exclusive) and, finally, we see them getting drunk with expensive liquor at the Parks' house.
- In many moments it is alluded to that the head of the Kim family never crosses the line. This symbolic line has its presence, literally, in several shots of the film. You can see more details in the video in this article: the line is present in the scenes where members of the poor family try to be hired by the Parks. The stripe symbolizes the border between the two social classes. When the line is present, it is difficult to cross, and if it is done, it is only for a few seconds (as when the housewife wakes up the lady because she has fallen asleep).
- There are quite a few scenes where the poor family behaves like insects. The use of long and distant shots during his escape accentuates this transformation of humans into ants. You can see more examples in the video that accompanies this article.
- The camera movements for the poor family scenes unfold from top to bottom. For the rich family it is the other way around.
- Equally, everything in the rich family equals promotion: in their scenes the characters always climb (streets and stairs) to reach them. The opposite happens with the poor family, whose movements are always vertically downward.
- We find a similar parallelism with the use of light. The sun always shines in the Park house. And if it rains, nothing bad happens: the tent resists the rain and, as the mother emphasizes, the rainwater is good news because it cleans the contamination. For the poor family, everything always takes place downhill, between darkness and tight spaces. Needless to say, how bad the torrential storm comes to their lives.
- 85% of Parasites It takes place in a set. Scenes with flooded streets included.
- It is no coincidence that it is raining in one of the most dramatic moments of the film: the one in which the Kim's sleep is broken and they return to their initial position (or even worse). And we are not saying this because their house has been flooded: the rain always flows from top to bottom. The same with social status: it is very difficult to go up, because the tendency is to go down.
- The child's Indian tent is waterproof. The Kim home, no.
- The Park family home was built expressly for the filming of the film, and it was made on a vacant lot outside of Seoul. Aesthetically, it is a delight. In terms of efficiency/pragmatism, the story is very different. It is a very unconventional house. In fact, the second floor was added digitally. If you notice, there is no uncut scene where the characters go up the stairs from the first floor.
- No wife is ever mentioned of the architect of the house and, in fact, we are told that he only entrusted the secret of the bunker to the housewife. Possible secret romantic relationship?
- The housekeeper is called Mun (door in Korean) Kwuang (madness in Chinese). The owner of the gate of madness.
- That the man in the basement turns on the lights on the stairs every time the Parks make their entrance is a clear metaphor of how the poor are facilitators of the standard of living of the rich.
- At the beginning of parasites, the son and his friend talk at a crossroads rising in the distance. It is no coincidence: in that conversation the future of young Kim and his imminent rise in status are settled. The crossroads symbolizes his present and his short-term future.
- The housewife is the only person who plays with the little boy. His mother, although she cares a lot about him, never has physical contact with the creature. She literally never touches him. A different case is that of the poor family: all of them even hit each other. This symbolism is in tune with the homes of each family (chaotic that of the Kims, and cold, orderly and aseptic that of the Parks) and with their lifestyles.
- Trash can where Kim-Kitaek gets the sauce/blood handkerchief from it costs 2.000 dollars for its design: Does not make any noise when closing. Bong Joon-ho He has acknowledged that when they returned it they were "trembling".
- We insist: who are the real parasites in the film? More than a movie about poor vs rich, is a film about the difficulty of moving up socially and, at the same time, the contempt with which those above treat those below. And this also goes for the poor family, the Kims. When they discover what was cooking in the Parks' basement, the Kims treat the Parks with equal (or worse) contempt. new poor that, in a certain way, they were already parasitizing the terrain conquered by the new parasites. The enemy of poor people is rich people. But also the rest of the poor.
- In the title song (composed by Bong Joon-ho and performed by the Kim scion, it is said that it would take him 547 years to save the money needed to buy the house of the Parks (based on the average salary in South Korea).
- The Park puppies They are present in the title credits.
Have you stopped to think about the symbology of parents dressing up as Indians?
How to see Parasites online?
The best thing one can do right now is review the tape carefully to confirm that at no time is it clear who the parasites are. Are we bugs all of us? The human race as a whole, blinded by the desire for accumulation or wealth?
If you want to watch Parasites online, the only legal option is Filmin. And it's not going to be free: 3,99 euros.