I loved Parasite. However, I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the ending. There's a real question as to what the reality is at the end--how much of what we see is the son's fantasy versus how much is the actual expected fall considering everything that went before.
There's also the other great subtext that runs through the entire movie: Betrayal in service of advancement. It's a part of every interaction between the families, and between the Kims and the rest of the servants.
On the whole, Parasite is extremely well written, well acted, and the cinematography is excellent.
Thanks. I'm not sure our interpretations are at variance. There is some ambiguity for sure. In the here-and-now of the film, I believe he did survive and the final scene is his dream ("Father. Today I made a plan..."). But did his dream also eventually happen? It's a mystery.
Finally saw Parasite this week. For me, the coda works as 100% metaphor; that's when it hit me, watching, that capitalism, once it gets in our heads, takes us away from each other. How many people alive today didn't have much of their fathers in their life, because we all deemed it necessary that he leave to work every day, all day? And that's the situation at the end: Father buried in the bowels of this world, hitting a button; son hallucinating himself delivering on dad's sacrifice in the future, so all can be together as originally intended. That is, I bet, the story of many or even most Americans -- or I mean to say, that's the story *when our system works the way it is designed to.*
When the reveal-from-below happens, I balked. You're right--it changed from Billy Wilder to something more Scandinavian-parable-ish. My wife, meanwhile, was put off when the mother got her gig as housekeeper, and what led to it. But both events are of a piece with the whole, which I'd still recommend. I blame us for lazily expecting something more familiar and conservative.
In Australia we have SBS, a multi-cultural TV and radio org. that runs different languages and movies from all over the world. Korean film making is proudly unconventional and Korean fillums are, if accessible, strong as hell.
I loved Parasite. However, I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the ending. There's a real question as to what the reality is at the end--how much of what we see is the son's fantasy versus how much is the actual expected fall considering everything that went before.
There's also the other great subtext that runs through the entire movie: Betrayal in service of advancement. It's a part of every interaction between the families, and between the Kims and the rest of the servants.
On the whole, Parasite is extremely well written, well acted, and the cinematography is excellent.
Thanks. I'm not sure our interpretations are at variance. There is some ambiguity for sure. In the here-and-now of the film, I believe he did survive and the final scene is his dream ("Father. Today I made a plan..."). But did his dream also eventually happen? It's a mystery.
I'm thinking I will be watching this several more times when it comes to cable.
Me too!
Finally saw Parasite this week. For me, the coda works as 100% metaphor; that's when it hit me, watching, that capitalism, once it gets in our heads, takes us away from each other. How many people alive today didn't have much of their fathers in their life, because we all deemed it necessary that he leave to work every day, all day? And that's the situation at the end: Father buried in the bowels of this world, hitting a button; son hallucinating himself delivering on dad's sacrifice in the future, so all can be together as originally intended. That is, I bet, the story of many or even most Americans -- or I mean to say, that's the story *when our system works the way it is designed to.*
When the reveal-from-below happens, I balked. You're right--it changed from Billy Wilder to something more Scandinavian-parable-ish. My wife, meanwhile, was put off when the mother got her gig as housekeeper, and what led to it. But both events are of a piece with the whole, which I'd still recommend. I blame us for lazily expecting something more familiar and conservative.
In Australia we have SBS, a multi-cultural TV and radio org. that runs different languages and movies from all over the world. Korean film making is proudly unconventional and Korean fillums are, if accessible, strong as hell.
You should be able to get 700 or so words out of the Lincoln Project ad against Martha McSally. Nobody fuck rats like Republicans.