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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 12 February 2020
Bong's 'Parasite' focuses on plight of South Korea's poor

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Asso- ing inequality and other cess story.
ciated Press problems that have many This sometimes creates po-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — young and poor people litical consequences for
South Koreans are reveling describing their lives as a the artists.
in writer-director Bong Joon hellish nightmare. Bong was one of thousands
Ho's dark comic thriller, South Korea has one of the of artists who were black-
"Parasite," which won this largest gaps between rich listed and denied govern-
year's Academy Awards and poor among devel- ment funds under the rule
for best film and best inter- oped nations and is strug- of conservative former
national feature. The movie gling mightily to deal with President Park Geun-hye
itself, however, doesn't put decaying job markets, for their allegedly critical

People watch a TV screen showing images of South Korean di- the country in a particularly rocketing house prices and views of her administration.
rector Bong Joon Ho during a news program at the Seoul Rail- positive light. a record-low birth rate as Following protests by mil-
way Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. No doubt, the internation- couples put off having ba- lions, Park was ousted from
Associated Press al acclaim for "Parasite," bies while struggling with office in March 2017 and
which also won the pres- low pay and harsh work is now serving a decades-
tigious Palme d'Or at the conditions. long prison term for corrup-
Cannes Film Festival last Although fully Korean in tion. Critic Kim Gyu-hang
May, highlights South Ko- language, humor and accused Bong of objectify-
rea's emergence as a glob- tone, Bong's dark tale of ing poor people and treat-
al cultural power, a reflec- poverty and class struggle ing their lives like a "sight-
tion of decades of focus on resonates across borders seeing attraction," saying
building world-class indus- because Western democ- that the film makes no
tries in one of the most vi- racies are also experienc- real attempt at explaining
brant democracies in Asia. ing similar social and eco- how the system locked the
But it also hints at an un- nomic problems, albeit not characters in a desperately
comfortable truth: While as "extreme" as in South hopeless situation.
the national successes Korea, according to Chin "("Parasite") provides no
have been spectacular — Jung-kwon, a prominent deep insight into humans,
from Samsung's rise as a cultural critic. their anger and how they
global economic power- "The film shows that South are a byproduct of the so-
house to the explosion of Korea still has a strong mes- cial system that surrounds
K-pop in Asia and beyond sage to show the world," them," Kim said.
— many South Koreans rec- Chin said. "Parasite"'s Oscars success
ognize that there's been a While Bong is uniquely tal- follows years of struggles
dark side to that rise. Only ented as a director, it was by South Korean directors
a few years ago, Bong only a matter of time be- to break through in Hol-
himself was blacklisted by fore South Korean mov- lywood. Park Chan-wook,
the government, and the ies and other pop cultural who won the Grand Prix at
characters in his film reflect products gained increas- the 2004 Cannes Film Festi-
a society where many feel ing acceptance in the val with his thriller "Oldboy,"
intense hopelessness. West, considering South received mixed reviews
South Korea's rapid emer- Korea's dynamic cultural for his 2013 work "Stok-
gence from the devasta- scene, which has matured er," an English-language
tion of the 1950-53 Korean along with its democracy, thriller starring Nicole Kid-
War also saw a bloody Chin says. man. Bong enjoyed both
transition from dictatorship K-pop has garnered a commercial and critical
to democracy. Its associa- huge international follow- success with his 2013 sci-fi
tion with neat smartphones ing with an increasing num- film "Snowpiercer," which
and cars came amid a ber of fans coming from starred Chris Evans and Til-
constant threat from nucle- the United States. da Swinton along with "Par-
ar North Korea. For every in- With "Map of the Soul: asite" actor Song Kang-ho.
ternational success, there's Persona," BTS last year be- But nothing that's come
also widespread worry that came the first musicians before has been remotely
South Korea will forever be since the Beatles to debut as successful as this South
overshadowed by regional three consecutive albums Korean film shot in the Ko-
giants Russia, China and atop the Billboard Album rean language.
Japan. chart in a span of less than "Every society in the world
South Korean President a year. South Korean TV experiences conflicts cre-
Moon Jae-in, who fre- dramas, which triggered ated by people's efforts to
quently praises mega-pop- the original "Korean Wave" move up the class ladder,
ular K-pop boy band BTS, in the early 2000s, continue and South Korean films
tweeted that he's grateful to be big in Asia and other have dealt with this issue
to Bong for "giving courage regions like the Middle East. for a long time," said veter-
and pride to our people Perhaps more than any an filmmaker Lee Jang-ho.
overcoming difficulties." other genre, South Korean "Maybe Bong's dark humor
But "Parasite"'s main char- films have aggressively and his vivid description of
acters portray South Kore- tested artistic boundaries, the lives of the South Ko-
ans who have been left be- often with stunning visuals rean poor, including their
hind by the country's dra- and violence meant to ex- 'half-basement' living spac-
matic changes. It's a biting pose the underside of the es, felt refreshing to Ameri-
commentary on deepen- country's economic suc- can moviegoers."q