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Bong Joon-ho

Memories of Murder: Murder, Mayhem and Mind Games

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From Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-Ho, the classic Memories of Murder is based on Korean’s first real serial killer who committed his murders from 1986 – 199 until they were caught in 2019. Originally released in 2003, Memories tells the story of a big city detective from Seoul who has to team up with 2 inept small city cops in order to track down an elusive murderer who plays games with both his victims and the officers that try to bring him down. 

Memories of Murder centers around two dimwitted cops, Park and Cho. Totally unprepared for this type of case, a big city detective named Seo has to join them. A detective story at its core, you get to see how the horrifying 5-year murder spree played on the psyche of these officers. As the killer plays games with them, they are increasingly driven to unethical interrogation methods in order to find the killer, torturing and intimidating any suspect they can get their hands on.

At first, having been pulled in to lead the investigation, Seo looks down on Park and Cho’s methods as idiotic, desperate, and barbaric. However, as the killer continues to toy with him, Seo begins to act in desperation with his suspects in the same way. In this way, Memories showcases how this allusive serial danced around every detective on the case for years and the psychological effect that this had on those who were pursuing him. 

Personally, I enjoyed Memories of Murder greatly. Bong Joon-ho thoroughly tells the stories surrounding the investigation and gives insight as to how the limited forensic technology of the time and the lack of preparedness of the detectives allowed the killer to get away for so long. (In real life, the killer’s name is Lee Choon-jae, having confessing to his crimes in 2019. Though, because he had passed the statue of limitations, he is a free man.) 

[Caution: Spoilers] Towards the end of the film, Park goes back to the old site of the first killings and runs into a girl. She proceeds to tell him that there was a man earlier who was revisiting for nostalgia purposes. When he realizes that this girl must have run into the killer, the camera zooms in on his face, eyes glaring at the camera. For Park, the obsession is unending as he uses his eye detector test to spot the killer, potentially in the audience of the film itself. [Spoilers end]

Overall, the rerelease of Memories of Murder did great in retelling the classic story. The film features a great dynamic from the trio of cops and shows their psychological struggle through 

Memories of Murder is available on VOD on Friday, October 23rd, 2020.

6.23 Symbiosis in PARASITE

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Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has taken the world by storm, winning numerous awards in its short reign. As the Kim family manipulates and infiltrates the Park family and compound, we watch as the dynamic of the class system motivates and affects each character.

Join Julie and Paul Levac as they discuss role stereotypes and the class system, what the house and the rock bring to the story line, and who is the actual parasite.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Soundcloud! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts or Google Play!

Parasite: Staring From the Outside

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“It’s all so metaphorical.” (Choi Woo Sik, Parasite)

Written and directed by Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer), Parasite introduces the viewer to the Kim clan, a destitute Korean family struggling to make ends meet. When a young friend encourages the son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo Sik), to apply as an English tutor to the Parks, a wealthy family who live in an extravagant mansion, he believes that he may have found an answer to their financial problems. As the lies and deceptions increase, the Kims and Parks become intertwined in a symbiotic relationship that will threaten all of their lives. 

With the Oscars fast-approaching, Parasite has slowly crept its way into awards contention, continuously winning audiences over with its unique storytelling and shocking finale. Featuring Joon-ho’s signature brand of humour and horror, Parasite also has a social conscience that also challenges perceptions and stereotypes regarding the boundaries of social status. As a result, the film is truly one of the year’s most engaging and interesting scripts, worthy of all the accolades that have come its way. 

Essential to Parasite is the concept of lines and boundaries. As Mr. Park speaks repeatedly about his demand that his staff do not ‘cross the line’, their luxurious home is designed with clean edges, squares and sections to indicate the proper location for both items and people. Put simply, the Parks live in a world of control and separation. Their highest priority remains maintaining the quality of life that they have achieved. Meanwhile, however, the Kim family live in a world where boundaries are blurred as they constantly reach upwards. Open windows let in everything from water to fumes. They scurry feverishly until they find Wi-Fi signals, often in the strangest of areas of their basement apartment. In fact, even their bathroom appears virtually upside down as the toilet approaches the ceiling. Struggling to pay their bills, they find themselves constrained by the social boundaries that have been laid in place by families such as the Parks. (Incidentally, this notion of exclusion is also beautifully represented by the Park family home’s many walls and windows, suggesting that they both want to be left alone and admired at the same time.)

Nevertheless, despite the social division between them, there seems to remain a symbiotic dependency between the two families. While the Kims slowly gain access to the Park residence, they could clearly be viewed as the titular ‘parasites’, leaching off of their benefactors’ food and finance. Though, with that in mind, the Parks too find themselves relying on their servants to perform the most menial of tasks, suggesting that they too find themselves in a similar role. In Parasite, there remains an interconnectedness between class cultures that those in the upper class either remain unaware of (or refuse to acknowledge). For example, the film recognizes the self-imposed blindness of the wealthy as they treat the disenfranchised as less than human. Broken and ignored, the Kims represent an entire section of the population that the Park family choose not to see. Blinded by forged documents and business cards, the Parks are only willing to acknowledge the worth of the Kims based upon their credentials, as opposed to their value as human beings. As such, Parasite plays out like a cautionary tale, it also serves as a call for justice for the oppressed as well.

Special features on the Blu-ray disc are sparse, especially when one considers how immensely popular the film has become. However, the sole feature—an interview with director Bong Joon-ho—is especially good and delves into many of the film’s key themes and ideas. (Though, if extras are what you’re looking for, you may want to wait to see if Criterion eventually offers a release in their collection.) 

Sharply-written, visually stunning and shocking at times, Parasite is an experience well worth investing your time into. Through his distinct brand of story-telling, Joon-ho embeds his tale of interconnectedness and social injustice with levity that somehow enhances the moments of surprise when they arrive. 

Parasite has moved in onto Blu-Ray and Digital now.

Parasite: Class Struggle

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The intersection of the haves and have-nots is the world of Parasite, for which director Bong Joon-ho won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Set in South Korea, where I’m told the difference of economic divisions is very real, the story also taps into a more universal understanding of the disdain and resentments inherent in class structure.

The film is the story of two families, the Kims and the Parks. The Kim family is from the lowest part of society, as we see in their living in a basement apartment where they have to crawl up next to their toilet to get a phone signal. They get by doing piece work such as folding pizza boxes for a few cents each. When college age son Ki-woo is recommended by a friend to take over the job as English tutor for the Parks’ daughter, he is astounded by the opulence of their home high on a hill. Quickly, he begins a series of cons that bring other family members into the Parks’ employ (although their relationship is secret). This involves lies about others that are working for the family to make way for new hiring.

There is a comic feel to the first half of the film as the Kims worm their way into the Parks’ lives. In a similar fashion as Shoplifters (which won the Palme d’Or last year), this family of grifters is somewhat endearing, even though we may be put off by their lack of morals.

The Parks, on the other hand, are a bit cold. They clearly care about their children, but don’t want to be bothered with the actual raising of them. For all their affluence, they lack any kind of human affection. They are a bit suspicious of some of the Kims because they don’t smell right. They smell of the underclass, which the Parks want nothing to do with.

The second half of the film slowly turns more toward tragedy when the Parks leave on a trip and the Kims inhabit the house. Soon they discover some secrets about the house, and the former servants that begins to lead this story to a violent confrontation that Quentin Tarantino would probably enjoy.

The dichotomy of the two families gives us a chance to consider the role class plays in life. To be sure the differences vary from one society to another, but they still exist everywhere. Is it an inevitability that such divisions will lead to some sort of violent confrontation? Even though in the film the violence arises out of a kind of comedy of errors, it still seems to be the only way that the class struggle will finally be addressed. The title of the film suggests that the class struggle is about those who live off others. But which class is living off which?

It is interesting that Bong brings the audience (who are probably more closely related to the Parks) into the film on the side of the Kims. It is the Kims with whom we emotionally identify. It is a trick that film uses to help us see the plight of others, but it also serves to suggest that perhaps we should be judged for the same shortcomings we see in the Park family. As with all good films, we discover that it is not a story about other people; it is about us.

Parasite is available on Blu-ray and digital now.

Photos courtesy Neon CJ Entertainment

GIVEAWAY! Parasite on Blu-Ray!

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As Oscar season ramps up, ScreenFish wants you to bring home the film that everyone is talking about!

In PARASITE, meet the Park family, the picture of aspirational wealth and the Kim family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kim’s sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. 

The winner will receive a copy of Parasite on Blu-Ray.

To enter, simply like or share our post on Facebook and answer the following question in the comment section: Name one other film directed by Bong Joon-ho.

For a bonus entry, like or share the post on Twitter and Instagram.

All entries must be completed by 11:59pm on Monday, January 27th, 2020

A special thanks to TARO PR!

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