‘Parasite’ makes you uncomfortable & how! One of the best films you’ll ever watch!

It’s been a day since I experienced ‘Parasite’ and I’m not sure how I feel about it! Don’t get me wrong, the words “remarkable”, “original” and “beautiful” have registered within but I’m still processing the film’s brilliance!

In South Korea’s unequal Society, an impoverished family of four works hard to get entangled with an exceptionally wealthy family of four. The former is ‘stealing-their-neighbour’s-WiFi-while-perched-on-their-broken-commode’ poor and the latter are ‘separate-treats-for-each-of-their-dogs’ rich! The entangling which is deliciously humorous at first gradually and painstakingly turns edgy, then brutal and then poignant. Anything more about the plot would reduce the joy of this film unravelling layer by layer.

Made at a budget of under 80 Crore INR (close to the budget of ‘Housefull 4’), the film, though based in South Korea, is pretty much universal and even timeless. I doubt there exists a better way of communicating an engaging take on inequalities of our times without being high-handed! The dark, unnerving humour of this story keeps you on the edge of your seat suspecting everything will break any moment but when it actually does, it takes you by storm leaving you mesmerised, even chaotic within!

Your heart bleeds when one family’s helplessness at being rendered homeless is contrasted with a surprise party thrown at the other’s. While one family is clearly in the wrong, you’d often find yourself confused on who you root for, even on who is ‘parasitising’ whom!

Each scene, even the ones depicting stark poverty, are like poetry. What stunning cinematography and lighting by Kyung-pyo Hong! Note the constant use of staircases to depict the ascent into and descent out of riches. And what remarkably uninhibited performances by every single cast member.

But the true hero here is the Writer cum Director Bong Joon Ho. For a film nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture, the filmmaker said this in his acceptance speech for the Best Foreign Language Golden Globe: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films!”. If you haven’t watched a non-English foreign language film till date, ensure you rush to a theatre immediately and make ‘Parasite’ your first!