Gisaengchung
Directed by:
Joon-ho BongCinematography:
Kyung-pyo HongComposer:
Jae-il JungCast:
Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo, Hye-jin Jang, Woo-shik Choi, So-dam Park, Seung-min Hyeon, Hyun-jun Jung, Myeong-hoon Park, Keun-rok Park (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
The Kim family are close. All four live in a tiny basement flat and all four are unemployed. But when the son, Ki-woo, is recommended by his friend to take a well-paid tutoring job, hopes of a regular income blossom on the horizon. There's only one small issue - he's not a qualified teacher and has to fake it. Carrying the expectations of all his family, Ki-woo heads to the extravagant Park family home for an interview and after securing the job discovers they also need an art tutor for their son, something he thinks his sister could pretend to do… if they don't know she's his sister. Soon the whole family has infiltrated the Park home but as their deception unravels events begin to get increasingly out of hand in ways you simply cannot imagine. (Artificial Eye)
(more)Reviews (22)
A brilliant South Korean effort that takes shots at class issues with unconventional grace while maintaining an incredibly funny detachment. In this respect, all the jokes and references to North Korea are extremely successful and cool. Plus, in terms of filmmaking, it's really very professional and in some ways even a hair more progressive than mainstream Hollywood. The self-conscious alternating of genres then becomes the icing on the cake, reminiscent of the earlier bright period of South Korean production. Its international renown is well deserved, as this is truly one of the best films of 2019.
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The moment we abandon the attempt of genre pigeonholing, which is not even possible, because Parasite has something of everything, this is mainly a proof that it is still possible to make a completely novel, unpredictable, funny, touching, but also at times chilling and shocking film. In a nutshell: an emotional roller coaster. The story gradually builds up and serves up such twists and turns that you will be left with your wits about them, and you won't even dare to guess what kind of finale it will lead you to – for me it is bittersweet.
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