Bong Joon-ho's ‘Parasite’ Made History After Winning 4 Oscars
The Korean film that finally overcomes the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles and wins 'Best Picture' at the Academy Awards.
Hop into #BongHive on Twitter, and you’ll see it bursting with tweets congratulating and cheering for Bong Joon-ho – the South Korean director behind Parasite.
The film made history by winning Best Picture at the Oscars on February 9, 2020, making it the first non-English film ever to win the most prestigious title of the Academy Awards.
Considering other nominations include Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, 1917, and Joker, the Korean comedy/thriller has snatched a spectacular win.
In this momentous victory for the Asian film industry, Parasite also grabbed major titles like Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay. Bong Joon-ho himself won Best Director as well. The film took home four awards in total from the 92nd Oscars, the first time a Korean film has ever done so.
With its dark humor and witty writing, Parasite comments on social inequality and the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. The plot follows a lower class family of four living in a dingy apartment and struggling to make ends meet.
The son is eventually hired as a tutor for the daughter of a rich family, thanks partly to his forged certificates.
Hoping to escape poverty, he then puts members of his own family in the employment of the upper-class household. His sister as an ‘art therapist’ for the wealthy family’s young son, his father as a chauffeur, and his mother as a housekeeper.
After successfully conning their way into a life of relative luxury, however, the poor family discovers a secret that threatens to ruin their newfound comfort.