CULS5202 Group 9 by

Poor houses in Parasite

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 10:52:05 UTC

Parasite selects the houses where two families, the poor and the rich, live to show the stark contrast between classes under neoliberalism. The opening scene uses a lot of footage to show the semi-basement where Kim's family lives, dark and damp, with windows flush with the ground, surrounded by noisy and chaotic alleys full of clutter. There is even no Wi-Fi, a place where a large number of poor families who have been eliminated by the mainstream of the times can merely meet the basics of survival.

Mansions in Parasite

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 16:23:05 UTC

President Park's house is a very different scene, and we can see a different kind of architectural space: a wide foyer, a business-like lawn, plenty of sunlight, and a spacious mansion, a symbol of a few wealthy families.

Space Conflict

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 19:38:14 UTC

The spatial orientations of aboveground, semi-underground, and underground form a hierarchical social order, delineating distinct class boundaries.

Presentation of urban space

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 19:54:42 UTC

Busy cabs and motorcycles pass through the busy city streets as night falls.

Presentation of urban space

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 19:56:55 UTC

The story begins when the protagonists cross paths in a red-lit, booze-fueled ballroom where neon lights illuminate their faces.

Presentation of urban space

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 20:05:40 UTC

At the end of the movie, when Marthe and Markus leave together, they have jokes and laughs in their car as they walk through the bustling downtown area of Taipei.

Presentation of urban space

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 20:08:21 UTC

The Taipei Night Market, a world-famous night market, appears in the film to show Taipei's high degree of urbanization and modernity.

Class Conflict

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-15 20:15:50 UTC

There is a clear hierarchical relationship amongst the members of the quartet, which is determined through wealth, and this is demonstrated by the home environments of the different characters in the movie, which exemplify the power of money under the neoliberalism.

Urban scene

CULS5202_Group9 — 2024-04-16 04:21:44 UTC

Behind the highly modernized cityscape there are also slums cluttered with power lines

Presentation of urban space

594179078 — 2024-04-16 07:29:30 UTC

The film uses a great deal of modern urban space and the small, dilapidated living conditions of the poor as a contrast to show the marginalization of the underclass in the city.

Presentation of urban space

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:06:21 UTC

The film opens with the protagonist's view of the public space of a modern metropolis: orderly streets, well-developed public transportation, sun-drenched drinking establishments, and cozy, culturally symbolic bookstores.

Presentation of urban space

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:15:44 UTC

The main character, Ruth, lives in a residence that is very run down throughout the space, and has to go to work every day at an equally run down massage parlor - she's an inner-bottom woman of the city. The different urban space scenes and plot settings are strongly anti-utopian, showing a livable city on the outside with its dirty and dilapidated interior.

Metaphorical symbol

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:24:23 UTC

A modern, huge ship: a symbol of Ruth's and her boyfriend's hope for urban life. When she talks to her boyfriend, the scene in front of her is still a bright city street, and behind her boyfriend, who is out "earning money", there is a modernized giant ship!

Metaphorical symbol

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:31:16 UTC

Bucket and food in a shadowed corner: After his boyfriend incurs a large debt and becomes addicted to drugs, he has to be locked in a cramped corner of the house for detoxification, where even eating and defecating must be taken care of, and the claustrophobic and dirty space displays anxiety and despair.

"Femme Fatale"

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:44:04 UTC

The Girl in Yellow Boots has the most subtle style of expression of the three films, favoring the use of graphic suggestion and metaphor. This style is also fully implemented in the presentation of female subjectivity in the movie. As an outsider in the city, Ruth bribes the police to work illegally as a masseuse because she does not have a work visa, and offers her so-called "handshake" (masturbation) service to some male clients to make money. In these scenes, it is the female Ruth who dominates the human body and mind. Many episodes express Ruth's subjectivity as a woman, and also show Ruth's self-objectification in this urban space.

Metaphorical symbol

594179078 — 2024-04-16 08:58:37 UTC

Durex lubricant：In a scene showing Ruth at work, the camera focuses on a massage accessory on a table next to a strikingly colorful bottle of Durex lubricant, suggesting that Ruth also offers some special services.

In addition, faced with a debt owed by her drug-addicted boyfriend, she offers to pay off the debt with a "handshake" to the head of the local mafia. However, when the mafia boss arrives at the massage parlor to receive this special service, he asks Ruth not to look at his genitals. The traditional representation of sex under the male gaze is primarily a male-dominated scene of sexual intercourse or violence.

Violent behavior

594179078 — 2024-04-16 09:09:03 UTC

The ending of The Girl in the Yellow Boots continues the depressing, subtle tone of the movie. Ruth arrives in an unfamiliar city with high hopes, only to realize that her father, whom she has worked so hard to find, is to blame for everything. She confronts her father with a gun in the small, dark space of a massage parlor. After learning that her father is a pervert who sexually abuses his stepdaughter and is unrepentant, she fires the gun. Surprisingly, she doesn't use the gun for "revenge". Her real vengeance is obscure, her departure in the face of her father's agonizing pleas. These episodes and images also fit in with India's sentiments on neoliberalism.

"Femme Fatale"

594179078 — 2024-04-16 09:33:11 UTC

In Korean film noir, the element of snake and scorpion beauty has undergone a mutation. On the one hand, the snake charmer is no longer a stereotypical sexy mature woman, but a woman of all ages, with a more individualized subjectivity. On the other hand, the snake charmer is no longer sanctioned or judged. These characteristics are continued in several female characters in The Parasite, in this case the Kim family's mother and daughter.

"Femme Fatale"

594179078 — 2024-04-16 09:47:00 UTC

Ki-jung, the daughter of the Kim family, is the closest to the so-called "snake charmer," but with a difference. When Min Hyuk praises Ki Jung's talent in art, the camera shows Ki Jung synthesizing the emblem of a prestigious school with PS, which paves the way for Ki Jung's talent in deception and forgery. Ki-jung is the most resourceful character in the movie, as she is able to make plans in her head without having to spend any energy on planning.

In addition, the image Ki-jung creates of herself as having a high status in the Park family, coupled with the fact that she is ruthless and thoughtful, makes her the most likely person to make the class leap in this scam.

"Femme Fatale"

594179078 — 2024-04-16 09:52:32 UTC

Her mother, Chung-sook, is short, fat, strong, and a former winner of the national track and field championships in streaking, but now lives in poverty. Chung-sook is brave and strong. When the former housekeeper's husband takes a knife and stabs his daughter, she grabs an axe and fights him, eventually succeeding in killing the man back. The ex-butler and his wife are both killed at the hands of Chung-sook, and in this way the incompetence and powerlessness of the Kim family's father and son is even more evident, as the family is heading towards the most critical moment, and it is the women who are the first to step forward. In the end, Chung-sook is given a suspended sentence, not sanctioned, and returns to a quiet life, polishing furniture in a small room in the semi-basement.

"Femme Fatale"

594179078 — 2024-04-16 09:57:33 UTC

"There are only two kinds of people in the world, one is a liar and the other is a fool" is the symbolic metaphor of the movie title Mahjong.

The heroine, Matera, is a typical "fool". At the beginning of the movie, she comes to Taiwan from France to look for her boyfriend, Marcos, who has abandoned her. She is then targeted by a quartet of con artists who decide to use her as a prostitute to make money. Marthe's original name is Marthe, but she is called by Red Fish, a French company that builds subways for Taipei, a name that naturally carries with it the attribute of money, which is a metaphor for Marthe as a symbol of desire to make money in their eyes. This is also a metaphor for Matra as a symbol of desire to "make money" in their eyes.

Violent behavior

594179078 — 2024-04-27 07:43:52 UTC

The darkness at the bottom cannot be concealed, and breaks into the fragile and shiny world on the surface, completing a massacre with violence. After Geun-sae, whose face was covered with blood, found that his wife was dead, he attacked the guests with a kitchen knife and even assassinated Ki-jung. Chung-sook avenged her daughter and assassinated him. When President Park went to pick up the car keys to save his young son, he showed an uncontrollable disgust for the smell of Geun-sae. Enraged by this action, Kim Ki-taek killed President Park and hid in the basement to become a new "parasite."

Violent behavior

594179078 — 2024-04-27 07:52:03 UTC

The pistol is also the only weapon that appears in Mahjong and the figurative representation of the violence in the movie. It comes from the hands of the gangsters who are after Redfish's father, appears several times in the film and also used to serve as a symbol of the awakening of the Marthe’s subjectivity. But in the end, the only person who actually pulls the trigger is Redfish. Near the end, Redfish shoots Qiu Dong with this pistol. It’s the only killing in "Mahjong". And the reason of this killing is the collapse of Redfish’s faith.

Sounds

594179078 — 2024-04-27 08:18:31 UTC

When Qiu Dong speaks the exact same words as his father again, Redfish realizes that he is also just waiting for his father to tell him what to do, and that he is the biggest "fool" who has been alienated by money. His belief in capitalism collapsed, he angrily fired several shots at the character Qiu Dong who still believed in capital and killed him. But when he finally raises the gun, try to kill himself, just like his father, the gun is empty. Redfish falls to his knees and cries, doomed to continue living in this neoliberal world.

Music

594179078 — 2024-04-27 08:28:54 UTC

In the film Parasite, Mrs. Park said: "It’s best to introduce through someone you trust, like what? The belt of faith." Then the soundtrack "The Belt of Faith" played. In this soundtrack, the Kim family uses the Park family's trust to achieve their goal step by step. The elegant orchestral music, full of the dignity of the Baroque era, forms a strong contrast with the tricks of the "parasites".

Music

594179078 — 2024-04-27 08:34:52 UTC

Since Ruth did not have a work visa, she took the initiative to bribe the police station, illegally worked as a masseuse. The background music "Karmaari Duniya" played at this time has the same lively rhythm as most Bollywood movie music, but the repeatedly chanted lyrics are a metaphor for Ruth's struggle and fate in city. (For example, the lyrics say: This world is full of ugliness, how will you get through it without wisdom?) When showing Ruth's workplace, the camera focuses on the massage accessories on the table, next to a bottle of brightly colored and eye-catching Durex lubricant, implying that Ruth also provides some special services.