Here's the backstory. A few weeks back, I was in the Arclight Hollywood to see "Judy." On this Friday night, the entrances to have tickets scanned were much longer than usual. And populated largely by millennials. Hmm. I spied over shoulders to read the name of the movie on their tickets.
"Parasite."
Hmm again. It was apparently the opening night for the film. I frankly knew nothing about it, except that it was from the Korean director Bong Joon-Ho. Hey, wasn't he once a pitcher in the Dodger bullpen? Wondering even further, I figured that this was perhaps a film derived from a video game or maybe some millennial phone app. Considering the title, perhaps this was a new genre of a monster flick.
Nevertheless, the movie "Parasite" kept popping up on-line, It had won the big prize at the last Cannes Film Festival. It's already being talked up as the next Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film. Looking at the film poster above, I could not tell a single thing about what the movie was about.
Last week, the curiosity got me. I went to see "Parasite."
Wow.
And here's where the review starts to get short. I don't want to spoil anything about this marvelous mystery/comedy/drama/horror movie. Yep, it touches pretty much all of those categories. If there is such a word as "Hitchcockian," this film merits it.
The plot? There's this very poor family living in a basement hovel. A dad, a mom, a son and a daughter in their late teens. Their existence is miserable. They are stealing wi-fi. The only money coming in is when they fold boxes for a local pizzeria. Bums urinate in their windows. It's ugly.
When approached by a friend, the son takes over a tutoring gig with a young female art student from a very rich family who live in one of those modernistic Jetsons-like homes. In short, his sister becomes the tutor for the small boy in the family. Dad manages to get their chauffeur fired and assumes that position. And, finally, an elaborate plan is devised to get their housekeeper fired and Mom takes over that job.
All of them now entrenched in a rich family that doesn't realize the four of them are from the same family.
It's an intricate and comedic ruse that is successful. At one point, the rich folks go away on a camping trip. The poor family uses this opportunity to have a "trash the house" party one rainy night.
And then the fired housekeeper buzzes the front door. It seems she left something in the panic room down in the secret basement and...
I'll stop here. It's time for you to board this wonderful roller coaster. See "Parasite."
LEN'S RATING: Three-and-a-half stars. If you're wondering why not four stars, well, there's an ugly set piece in the last scene that bothered me. Otherwise, it's four stars.
Dinner last night: Leftover pot roast.
No comments:
Post a Comment