Parasite (2019, Joon-ho Bong)

[Noddy Tomkey]

One story aspect that puzzles me: when the old housekeeper returns during the impromptu party her face is all bashed up.  She does say she'll explain why but if she did I've forgotten about it.  Anyone able to help me out with this?

I took it to imply that she'd been visited by the loan sharks who were after her husband.

[TrenterPercenter]

I took it to imply that she'd been visited by the loan sharks who were after her husband.

I think this is it.

[Crabwalk]

That of course implies that they were torturing her to reveal his location, and that she held firm. Boy does the film give her a rough ride.

[peanutbutter]

I think people have an inaccurate idea of how alienating subtitles are to a large chunk of the public at this stage. Narcos was pretty damn huge and heavily in Spanish, The Americans seemed to be drifting towards having as much Russian as English in it.

[buttgammon]

Bit late to the party but I went to see it last night. Someone get up and left when they realised it was subtitled, which I found very funny.

Really enjoyed it, especially the bleak and brutal humour. My girlfriend was dying laughing at the shot of the dog eating the sausages on the skewer.

One criticism I have is that it's too long, and doesn't need that postscript at the end. I assumed it was going to end immediately after the

Spoiler alert

garden party massacre and I'd have been happy with that. I get the point of the father continuing that parasitic theme by remaining in the cellar, but I think that was clearly where the narrative was heading anyway, and it would've been best left up to the audience.

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Otherwise, it was a really, really good film.

[Armin Meiwes]

Funniest early exit from the cinema Ive had in recent times was for God's Own Country when this proper old couple sat down near me (must have been 80ish) and like a minute before it started I heard the old geezer say to his wife "so.. what's this film about then?", they lasted ten mins (if you've not seen it - there is quite a lot of bumming).

[DrGreggles]

Funniest early exit from the cinema Ive had in recent times was for God's Own Country when this proper old couple sat down near me (must have been 80ish) and like a minute before it started I heard the old geezer say to his wife "so.. what's this film about then?", they lasted ten mins (if you've not seen it - there is quite a lot of bumming).

Sometimes you just need to wank.

[Dog Botherer]

watched The Host the other day, was also very good. think the Oscars might be onto something with this guy.

[Inspector Norse]

I think people have an inaccurate idea of how alienating subtitles are to a large chunk of the public at this stage. Narcos was pretty damn huge and heavily in Spanish, The Americans seemed to be drifting towards having as much Russian as English in it.

It's an idea, though, that's borne out by the Hollywood habit of remaking foreign-language hits in English, or marketing foreign-language originals with trailers that don't feature any dialogue. Hollywood acting on an assumption, maybe, but I think the assumption that subtitled things are harder to sell is a fair one.

See also the way a lot of non-English-speaking countries routinely have English-language films dubbed rather than subtitled. In Spain I actually rented a couple of DVDs of American films that didn't even have the option to watch the film in its original language.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I watched it earlier.

Thought it was really strong. Covered a wide range of styles without feeling too jarring in the main. Funny in places, sad and hit hard emotionally at moments you weren't expecting. Most of the characters had a sympathetic side.

The social satire kept neatly under the story itself until the moments where it could do its thing.

The end half hour was a bit silly but kind of inevitable.

8.5/10

[Chollis]

The daughter sitting on a broken overflowing toilet smoking ciggies is a mood.

Fantastic little scene that.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

God that was vivid, every scene and split moment was like a convulsion. Bloody amazing. You were invited to consider the sociological parallels but only fleetingly... it was also visceral enough to be immediate and distracting.

Fantastically shot too. You never doubted for a minute it was a real flood.

[Blinder Data]

Saw this last night in black and white because I am a ponce. I thought it was excellent; it's very satisfactory to watch a film at the cinema every element of which is simply top tier (I had a similar feeling about Monos). It ramped up towards the end but, considering the innocuous beginnings, it did an excellent job of bringing the audience on a journey.

It looked lovely as well. Perhaps I was able to focus on the cinematography more because it was B&W - the scenes of them making their way back to their little flat were gorgeous. Would like to rewatch in colour to see if I'm missing anything (especially

Spoiler alert

the bloodbath at the end

[close]

).

[Thomas]

Yes it's

Spoiler alert

red

[close]