Movie: Parasite

Release Date: October 11, 2019

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin

Personal History: Watched Before

Rating: 9 Oscars out of 10

It’s a rare occasion when a Foreign or International film gets an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It’s even more rare for that film to win that top prize. But that’s exactly what ‘Parasite’ did in 2020. In fact, the film was the first non English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. And although it wasn’t my favorite film of that particular year, it was completely deserving of that and every other accolade it received.

Released in the United States in October of 2019, I actually did not see ‘Parasite’ until late January of 2020. It was just a few days before the Oscar telecast and I made my way down to the local arthouse theater that was still playing the film on the big screen. I do not mind Foreign films at all, and I wanted to see the movie, but I did put it off. I believe it was the last Best Picture nominee I had to see that year.

Earlier that January I had seen ‘Jojo Rabbit’ and absolutely fell in love with it. It was by far my favorite movie of 2019. It was charming, funny and heartwarming and a film that I now own and have since watched many times. The writing and acting was impeccable and each viewing just increases my adoration for it. For me, there was not going to be a better picture than that.

So when I finally made it to see ‘Parasite,’ it already had some big shoes to fill. And by George, it almost nearly did. I was floored by how much I adored this film. Not only was it crafted impeccably, but the story was so thought-provoking, entertaining and relevant, I left the theater in awe of what the cast and director had achieved.

Interesting tidbit about ‘Parasite’ is that it happens to be the last Best Picture winner that I saw in theaters. In case you lived under a rock or was completely removed from society, all hell broke loose in 2020. Remember a little thing called COVID? I actually didn’t go back to a theater to see a movie until December of 2021 when I saw Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story.’ The next two Oscar winners were both streamed on Amazon and Apple+.

‘Parasite’ and ‘Jojo Rabbit’ are both amazing films and comparing them is kind of like comparing apples and oranges. So different, but both so good. Although ‘Jojo Rabbit’ is my favorite from that year, I was not at all disappointed (nor did I actually pick it to win) when ‘Parasite’ took home the Best Picture Oscar. Its story and themes of class, wealth and society are still relevant (maybe even more so) and they are conveyed in such a thrilling, entertaining way, it is hard not to like the film.