Parasite (2019 film)

Parasite
An older man stands on a lawn, his eyes censored by a black line, as are those of a boy behind him. A younger couple relax on a sun lounger, their eyes covered by a white line. Someone's legs, lying on the grass, enter the frame. There is Korean text above the man's head as well as in the white margin below the picture.
Theatrical release poster
Hangul
기생충
Hanja
寄生蟲
Revised RomanizationGisaengchung
McCune–ReischauerKisaengch'ung
Directed byBong Joon-ho
Screenplay by
Story byBong Joon-ho[1]
Produced by
  • Kwak Sin-ae
  • Moon Yang-kwon
  • Bong Joon-ho
  • Jang Young-hwan
Starring
CinematographyHong Kyung-pyo[2]
Edited byYang Jin-mo
Music byJung Jae-il[1]
Production
company
Barunson E&A[1]
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • 21 May 2019 (2019-05-21) (Cannes)
  • 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30) (South Korea)
Running time
132 minutes[3][4]
CountrySouth Korea[1][3]
LanguageKorean
Budget₩13.5 billion[5]
(~$11.4 million)[6]
Box office$262.1 million[7]

Parasite (Korean: 기생충; RR: Gisaengchung) is a 2019 South Korean black comedy[8] thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the film with Han Jin-won. 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 infiltrate the life of a wealthy family.

The script is based on a play Bong wrote in 2013. He later adapted it into a 15-page film draft, and Han split it into three different drafts. Bong said he was inspired by the 1960 Korean film The Housemaid and by the Christine and Léa Papin incident in the 1930s. Filming began in May 2018 and finished that September. The project included cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, film editor Yang Jin-mo, and composer Jung Jae-il.

Parasite premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2019, where it became the first Korean film to win its top prize, the Palme d'Or. It was released in South Korea by CJ Entertainment on 30 May, and was praised for Bong's direction and screenplay, and also for its editing, production design, and the performances of the cast. It grossed $262 million worldwide on a $11.4 million budget.

Among its numerous accolades, Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.[note 1] It won an additional three Oscars, for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. It is the first South Korean film to receive any Academy Award 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.[note 2] 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. It has since been considered one of the greatest films of all time.

As of October 2022, a television series based on the film was in early development.

  1. ^ a b c d "Parasite international press kit" (PDF). CJ Entertainment. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. ^ "BONG Joon-ho's PARASITE Claims Early Sales". Korean Film Biz Zone. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "GISAENGCHUNG – Festival de Cannes 2019". Cannes Film Festival. 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020. Country : SOUTH KOREA/Length : 132 minutes
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Naver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ 영화 '기생충' 흥행 질주...손익분기점 400만명 눈앞. 3 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference DeadlineProfit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Edelstein, David (11 October 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite Is an Acid-Black Comedy That Eats at the Mind". Vuture. Vox Media. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b Hoad, Phil (10 February 2020). "Parasite's best picture Oscar could kickstart a new era of internationalism". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Rules & Eligibility". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.


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