2020 Best Picture: Parasite Infests the World in a way that Joker Could Never

2020 Best Picture: Parasite Infests the World in a way that Joker Could Never

The Korean film Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-Ho, was released on October 5, 2019 - the day after American film Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, was released. It is safe to say that the foriegn movie Parasite invaded not only Korea, but the world, in a matter of weeks. Parasite focuses on a young man (Ki-Woo Kim, played by Choi Woo-sik) and his low income family (The Kim’s) that attempt to wiggle their way out of economic struggle and downfall by manipulating, lying to, taking advantage of a wealthy family (The Park’s), that they all work for. The Kim family quite literally become parasitic to the Park’s by invading their home and life for their own benefit. However, the Kim’s never achieve this wealth that they long for and chase, and the film ends with a series of events that destroy both the Kim and Park family. Parasite's powerful messages about Korean society, talented director and actors, and amazing adaptation allowed it to win the 2020 Academy Award for Best Picture. Joker, a nominee for Best Picture that lost against Parasite, focuses on the back story of Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker, and his road to evil. It brings the audience through the journey and hardships of failed comedian Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix), who works as a party clown. He goes through major loss and turmoil, is treated terribly by many, and is ignored by society. These things ultimately lead him to madness, and as a viewer, you end up feeling very sorry for this “evil” man. I think the hype about this film was really just the fact that it can be perceived in so many ways, and that its purpose is to make an antagonist into a protagonist in the audience’s eyes. Also, the proposed question in this film of ‘is one truly “evil”, or is it just through one’s experiences that they become evil?’ captivated many viewers. However, although Joker was recognized as a pretty great film in the US, Parasite was well known and recognized around the world. Therefore, I think that Parasite rightfully deserved to win the 2020 Award for Best Picture over Joker.

Both films were directed brilliantly and casted well - however, I think the Parasite one upped Joker when it came to casting. It is true that Joaquin Phoenix played the role of Arthur Fleck (the Joker) in a very unique way - you could really see the talent there, and that role was casted perfectly. Also, they casted the role of talk-show host Murray Franklin very well; Robert De Niro was great, as always. However, I felt as though the other secondary characters in Joker were lazily casted. It seemed as if lots of work and thinking went into casting the role of the Joker, and everyone else was just thrown in without much consideration. But in Parasite, you can truly tell as the audience that each role was well thought out when casted. Not only was the role of Ki-woo Kim, the main character, played brilliantly, but many of the secondary characters were as well. My personal favorite roles in this film were the Kim family father (played by Kang-Ho Song) and the Kim family sister (played by Park So-dam). Kang-Ho Song played the role of a poor, money-driven father very well through his interesting technique and skills. Park So-dam played the role of a poor and manipulative con-artist, disguised as a woman named Jessica, in a great way as well. Her use of facial expressions stuck out to me the most. I think that because of the fitting casting choices made and great talent of the actors in Parasite, this film definitely beat Joker  in the category of casting.

Certain mise-en-scene choices such as the type of lighting, choice of music, and specific camera angles are crucial when adapting a good film. Joker’s camera angles and special effects were the two things that really stood out within the film. However, when watching Parasite, way more things stood out. Numerous music/sound, lighting, and camera angle choices were made that really affected the film as a whole. An example of good use of all of these things were during the stairway scene in the Park house. As the Kim mother followed the ex-house maid down the long, dark flight of stairs, the long camera shot, darkening of the scene, intense music, and sound of the maid calling “Honey!” made the scene continuingly more intense as it went on. Little mise-en-scene choices like these were made in every scene in Parasite, which created numerous great scenes, and a well adapted film - better adapted than Joker.

Most importantly, what really makes a movie great is the message that’s received by the audience. Joker left me with a thought-provoking question about the essence of evil that I find very interesting - is one always truly “evil”, or is it just through one’s negative experiences and life events that allows them to become evil? This question isn’t easy to find an answer. But the film supports the idea that what happens in your life is what makes you the person you are - Arthur has so many bad things happen to him, which led him to insanity and makes him a bad person. While this was a cool message, it doesn’t compete with the message of Parasite. This movie is focused on real-world struggles, and shows an example of the major differences between the rich and working class. The working class (The Kim’s) must fight others for necessities, and scam the rich in order to survive. Meanwhile, the rich (The Park’s) live comfortably, unaware of the struggles of those who work for them and keep their lives running (the working class). It’s an endless cycle that not only affects Korea, but all nations around the world. This message is the reason that Parasite became popular in so many countries - not only is the film itself great, but the underlying meaning of it is something that hits home for anyone who lives in our world. 

Both 2019 films Joker and Parasite deserved to be nominated for the 2020 Best Picture Academy award. Both movies were directed and casted wonderfully, carefully adapted, and had great messages to take away from them. But Parasite was recognized around the world for it’s strong message intriguing storyline. Therefore, I think that Parasite rightfully deserved to win the 2020 Award for Best Picture over Joker.