A little while ago I wrote an article about a Korean film that I had recently seen called Parasite and I believe my advice at the end of that write-up was "skip everything else you were considering watching and go and see this film immediately."
Well, apparently the Academy felt the same way.
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It is extremely rare for a foriegn-language film to be considered in the Best Picture category. Normally these movies, regardless of how good they are get relegated to the "Best Foreign Language" section. Which is still really prestigious but not nearly as great an honor as the overall Best Picture.
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Not only did Parasite win what many consider to be the top award at the ceremony, but Bong Joon-ho's crew walked away with Best Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Director.
The Oscars have been around for nearly 100 years and there has never been an instance where a foreign film has won Best Picture.
Why is this film so good? Well, I'm not gonna try to get all artsy fartsy on ya but I think it is many reasons. For one thing it is a wonderful portrayal of the massive divide that exists between the haves and have nots of societies all around the world and how members of either sector of life have no idea of what exists in the other's world.
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The poor can't believe the extreme opulence that the rich consider to be commonplace and the rich are disgusted and annoyed with the way the poor "choose" to live their lives.
This film also uses magnificent directing mechanisms (there is certainly a better way of explaining this in real terms) that are able to create tension without explicitly making you feel that way via jump-scares or simply a driving soundtrack.
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Parasite also intertwines comedic elements without turning the film into a full on comedy. However, even though you are reading the subtitles I can all but guarantee the humor is not lost in translation.
The elements of love for family and how a person can be driven to feel great rage when someone else attempts to hurt a relative that you yourself hurt on a regular basis rings so true to a part of all of us. It certainly did for me and made me think about how my sister and I would fight constantly when we were growing up but if someone else threatened her it would bring out the demons in me.
It was also heartwarming when the speeches ran over because of translation the music started playing as the Oscars attempted to keep things moving by cutting the microphone but then the crowd, filled with celebrities that this film had just defeated, began a rich-people protest chant until the production team allowed director Bong Joon-ho to finish speaking.
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At one point, struggling with speaking English, the director said "Thank you, I am ready to drink tonight."
If you have not yet seen Parasite I will once again strongly suggest you go and do so because not only do i think it definitely deserved this award, I also think it is one of the best films that I have ever seen.
Great movie!! Being half Korean and born in Seoul makes it a winner lol
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I was watching the Oscars this morning , this is definitely in my list now. I also felt the entire audience was genuinely happy that they won, which is surely a great thing for the entire film industry
Wow, gotta check it out now
One of the best movie story that I have seen so far. I am a huge fan of Korean movies for their unique story line ups and this one was no different as well.
Well deserved award.
I will definitely go and see this but having read both this review by you, as well as this one by my buddy and film fan @namiks https://steempeak.com/film/@namiks/parasite-and-the-potential-decline-in-international-cinema , I will go in not really knowing what to expect. I guess that's a good thing ;>)
I am seriously curious how much I'm gonna enjoy it.
No matter what, I think it's great that an Asian film and one from a smaller Asian country has won these still highly important awards.
P.S. If you can find the time, I wonder how you feel about the issue that @namiks point out in that post
I have time, i'll go look at it now :)
I have Korean family members; I'll certainly be recommending this film to them in case they haven't seen it yet. A good write-up...@gooddream :>)
Its an Oscar winning movie, which is amazing. Because you felt that movie so strong, I would watch this up soon. Having subtitles for me just ruins the experience but I would definitely watch this movie as you praised it a lot.
@gooddream
I finally watched this movie (which, by the way, is fantastic!) and after yesterday's memorable night, I had an obligation to write this article: https://steemit.com/hive-174578/@wiseagent/a-hurricane-called-bong-joon-ho.
Fun Fact: I thought I had never seen any of his movies, but I had already liked Okja a lot.
Very cool. That is awesome that this finally happened. I haven't seen the movie, but I saw that it was in the running on the news last night. I don't typically tend to watch most of the movies that get Oscars because they are all much to cerebral for me. I do enjoy a movie that makes me think, but a lot of the time all of the art elements and stuff like that get lost on me because I have more of a technical mind as opposed to a creative one.
I watched this movie some time ago and I loved it. What a surprise it was to see them winning Best Picture.
It was a tough decision for sure and I thought 1917 was going to be the winner. I was also happy to see Joaquin Phoenix winning best actor but his speech was so annoying haha.
Yeah i heard that Walking Feenix really took the lecture-speech to a new level. He must not have gotten the memo about how the public is really tired of that crap. I was happy that he won and felt he deserved it for sure. I was happy that Joker did not win best picture (was it even nominated? - i dont' remember) because although I felt it was good, i don't think it deserved top honors.
The enthusiasm the crowd showed for Parasite winning was great to see :)
I recall that post and admittedly I have still not seen it... but now I will really make a point of doing it - promise! Speaking of viewing content, we started watching a series last night called "YOU"... seems pretty intriguing! You seen it?
That is amazing . i started watching waiting for the subtitles to kick in and couldn't get them working. Will try again as I am keen to see this one after your first write up. Think it's great that a foreign film has been recognized as so few do by the Oscars.
The internet is literally blown away by the praise of the film all around. I think this brings in the revolution of foreign film to oscars!
My wife watched this movie and her reaction was a very different with ones after watching other movies. Some times very funny, scary or dramatic. One of greatest movie In this century and showing the insight getting through current society and real human mind.
Wow this is refreshing that the Academy honored the best film even though it was foreign, now I want to see it, thanks gooddream!