Film: Final Research Paper (Parasite- 2019)
Research is essential in any field since it provides important knowledge relevant to the subject or study field. Film research is necessary for understanding the films fiction, non-fiction, or documentary narratives. Storytelling is an art that is best interpreted by analyzing a selective film. To fulfill this purpose, this paper aims to present film research for a specific era movie. The chosen era is present . The movie is an Oscar-winning Korean drama and thriller named Parasite (2019). The learnings about the cinema of this particular time and its historical context and critique will be elucidated in further sections of the paper.
Historical Approach
The Korean film industry is a great competition for Hollywood since their filmmaking and direction are acclaimed worldwide. The funding from the government granted for filmmaking in Korea is the subsidy required for strengthening the entire movie. Since recently, the Korean film industrys prosperity has been dependent on the intensive subsidy policy[footnoteRef:1]. The importance of subsidies has been debated for two reasons: the advantage that it gives to the highly intensive film industry, Hollywood, and the demonstration of the true culture of a country through its film making, as seen in Korean movies. The cultural diversity and economies of scale have been part of the argument for subsidies for films. [1: Patrick Messerlin and Jimmyn Parc, "The Real Impact of Subsidies on the Film Industry (1970s- Present): Lessons from France and Korea", Pacific Affairs 90, no. 1, 2019, 51-74.]
In Korea, the government set an import quota that businesses misused after 1966, even imported for foreign films[footnoteRef:2]. The historical contest between US and Korea was started even from here when through US pressure, the import quota was abolished in 1986. Until now, screen quotas exist in Korea that requires binding impositions that the market conditions should reflect. Though the subsidy amount was insignificant for the Korean movies, it is recently magnified, observing the expansion and audience for the movies worldwide. The government has to take care while allocating appropriate quota amount to the Korean movies since extra quota could lead to over-production to low-quality movies or even higher quality movies for attracting larger audiences, which has happened after the 2000s[footnoteRef:3]. [2: Ibid.] [3: Ibid.]
The director of the film Parasite was one of the nine thousand writers who were restricted from having state subsidies for the movie initially. Still, with recent development in the subsidy policy of Korea, the director became lucky enough to offer a notable critical Oscar hit[footnoteRef:4]. The Korean government has announced that amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, parasite and various other movies would be supported with funds so that Korean cultural success could be enjoyed globally, as previously did through K-pop and Korean TV dramas. [4: Inkoo Kang, Parasite: Notes from the Underground, 30 October 2020, https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7158-parasite-notes-from-the-underground.]
The film style depicts political influences in several instances. For example, when the Kim family escapes the Park household, they come across Ahyeon-dong in Seoul that shows a redevelopment project, but the household is helpless[footnoteRef:5]. Although the community was under development during Chun Doo Hwans presidency, it still is criticized for the promise that is not yet fulfilled and the residents being in impoverished living conditions, showing an uneven distribution of resources within the society. [5: Aiden Mirza, Parasite and Democracy: A Case for Space,. n.d., https://umma.umich.edu/content/parasite-and-democracy-case-space.]
The alignment of the films style with the political movement in Korea is difficult to discern since the country follows a central democratic system where the citizens elect their choice of leader. Still, the data is scarce on political ideologies. However, capitalism and social...
…harsh realities of the themes the film presents to its audience. The dialogues like: corroborate itShes rich, but still nice- Ki-taek (dialogue from the movie Parasite)
Not rich, but still nice. Shes nice because shes rich. Hell, if I had all this money, Id be nice too!- Chung-sook (dialogue from the movie Parasite)
And:
Rich people are nave. No resentments. No creases on them.- Ki-taek (dialogue from the movie Parasite)
The film is not free of surprises when another class stratum is exposed living under the Park familys atomic basement. The Park family itself did not know of it except the previous house owners, housekeeper, and her husband. The stairs still are a significant symbol in the movie showing the long historical, social class deprival and the poor housekeeper family who was desperate to get food and shelter from the rich family daily. The light flicker was used as Morse code for his family above for communication. The United Nation has reported in a survey of 2018 that despite being the worlds 11th largest economy, South Korea cannot provide its citizens affordable housing and are forced to live in basements like that of Kims family, creating a large divide in social classes and showing somewhat incapability of the Korean government to set suitable home prices and festering economy[footnoteRef:12][footnoteRef:13]. [12: BBC News, Parasite: The Real People Living in Seoul's Basement Apartment, 10 February 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51321661.] [13: Hyonhee Shin, 'Parasite' Reflects Deepening Scial Divide in South Korea, 10 February 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-southkorea-inequality-idUSKBN20414L.]
The stairs show the climbing up on the social class system and signifying the capitalism mentality and representing the parasitic nature of the poor families, Kim and the housekeeper towards Parks family, who slowly infiltrated Parks house for snatching preserving their high ranks. The social trauma that the low-income families were going through was eradicated. They perceived…
Bibliography
BBC News. Parasite: The Real People Living in Seoul’s Basement Apartments. February 10, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51321661 (accessed December 2, 2021).
Hempel, Bryan. Class Issues and Identity in South Korean Cinema. October 3, 2020. https://hyperrealfilm.club/reviews/2020/10/1/class-issues-and-identity-in-south-korean-cinema (accessed December 2, 2021).
Kang, Inkoo. Parasite: Notes from the Underground. October 30, 2020. https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7158-parasite-notes-from-the-underground (accessed December 2, 2021).
Mirza, Aiden. Parasite and Democracy: A Case for Space. n.d. https://umma.umich.edu/content/parasite-and-democracy-case-space (accessed December 2, 2021).
Moon, Criss, and Julie Moon. “Parasite” and the Plurality of Empire. June 23, 2020. https://www.publicbooks.org/parasite-and-the-plurality-of-empire/ (accessed December 2, 2021).
Shin, Hyonhee. ‘Parasite’ Reflects Deepening Social Divide in South Korea. February 10, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-southkorea-inequality-idUSKBN20414L (accessed December 2, 2021).
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