2019 South Korean thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won and co-produced. The film, starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin, Park Myung-hoon and Lee Jung-eun, follows a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family, infiltrating their household by posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals.
The script is based on Bong’s source material from a play written in 2013. He later adapted it into a 15-page film draft, and it was split into three different drafts by Han.
Inspiration
Bong was inspired by the 1960 Korean film The Housemaid, and by the Christine and Léa Papin incident in the 1930s.
The project included cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, film editor Yang Jin-mo, and composer Jung Jae-il. Darcy Paquet, an American film critic and author, provided English translations for the film’s international release.
Cannes Fest Winner–Palme d’Or
Parasite premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Fest on May 21, 2019, where it became the first Korean film to win its top prize, the Palme d’Or.
It grossed over $263 million worldwide on a $15.5 million budget.
Oscar: 4 Wins
Parasite won the leading four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film, becoming the first non English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
It is the first South Korean film to receive any Oscar recognition, and one of only three films overall to win both the Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first such achievement in over 60 years.
Records:
It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and became the first non English-language film to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Critical Status: Then and Now
It has since been cited as among the best films of the 2010s, the 21st century, and of all time.
Recycling:
A television series based on it is in early development.
Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning thriller Parasite has broken records at the U.K. box office, becoming the country’s highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time.
In the U.K., Parasite has overtaken Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which had held the foreign-language film record since 2004.
My Oscar Book:
“Parasite’s” U.K. box office now stands at £11.5 million ($15.1 million), according to the film’s distributor Curzon Artificial Eye. It passed “The Passion of the Christ’s” £11.1 million ($14.5 million) record on Friday. “Parasite” was playing in 504 sites over the weekend.
Parasite debuted in the U.K. on February 7, just days ahead of the Academy Awards, where it won four Oscars including for best film.
The U.K. release came later than most territories, allowing the hit South Korean film to capitalize on its Oscar.
Global Box-Office Hit
Globally, the film has taken $257 million at the box office, with more than $50 million coming from the U.S via distributor Neon and $73 million in South Korea.
