It’s hard to miss “Parasite”, released in 2019. Below, discover the director’s explanations about the – relatively tragic – end of his sublime feature film.
Parasite or the class struggle
Parasite revolves around the encounter between two families that everything opposes, starting with their social condition. On the one hand, the wealthy Park lead a luxurious life. On the other, a less fortunate family whose members are all unemployed: among them, the young Ki-woo, who dreams of success. The latter weaves a link between the two homes when he begins to give private English lessons at the Parks. By dint of trickery, Ki-woo manages to hire his family members. But beware, he is careful not to mention that he knows these. For their part, the Park see nothing but fire. Then sets up an uncontrollable gear in which all find themselves caught… to the point of no return.
Parasite meet a major success worldwide. The film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which was awarded unanimously by the members of the jury. For the record, the feature film is the first korean movie to receive this prestigious award. If the critics praise the work of Bong Joon-ho, the spectators are not left out. Nearly 1.8 million curious French people went to discover Parasite in dark rooms. The drama also won the Oscar for Best Film and Best International Film. Its director and script are also sacred during the ceremony. A truly consecration for the filmmaker, which, already very popular in South Korea, saw its notoriety explode. In an interview given to our colleagues at vulnerability, Bong Joon-ho explains the end of his beloved work. Attention, spoilers below !
What to understand from the end of the film?
As a reminder, at the end of Parasite, Ki-woo shows us the consequences of the tragic events occurred earlier. He wakes up in the hospital and finds himself on probation, just like his mother. Ki-jung is dead, while their father is now a fugitive. No one knows where he is. Later, Ki-woo returns near the Parks’ house. There he observes a flickering light and soon realizes it is a Morse Code message. The young man then understands that his father sends him a message. At the very end, Ki-woo is seen writing a letter. His plan is simple: succeed in university, find a job and buy the famous house. So his father can finally come out of hiding.
The penultimate shot of the feature film shows the two characters who, years later, meet and embrace. Ki-woo’s plan succeeded. However, the credits do not start. Instead, a final sequence in which we return to the young man, still busy writing his missive. If many spectators hope that he will still achieve his ends, Bong Joon-ho is not nearly as optimistic. On the contrary, he explains that he added the last shot so that we become aware of the impossibility of the hero’s dream:
It’s quite sad and cruel, but I think it was fairer, more honest towards the public.
According to him, thanks to this final plan, we know like him that Ki-woo will fail to redeem the place. The filmmaker readily acknowledges the darkness of this ending, but believes that the “franchise” suited his feature film well:
The goal is not to show you how to change the world but rather to expose the terrible and explosive weight of reality. That, in my opinion, is the beauty of cinema.
