#Cho Yeo Jeong

[i4brience]

parasite (2019) headers !

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@ ifscline on twt.

[cinemoments]

Parasite, dir. Bong Joon-ho, 2019

[lullabiesinaglasswilderness]

[sasa-chan]

[welcome-to-the-cafe]

Obsessed (2014) and Decision to Leave (2022)

If I had a dollar for every time a disaffected married Korean man with a respected job no longer has any love for his wife and instead falls for a mysterious Chinese woman who likes birds, I'd have two dollars, which could probably buy 1 lamb skewer in Flushing.

(Top: Decision to Leave, Bottom: Obsessed)

Both are heavy in symbolism, both mostly follow the perspective of the man, both have him go through an existential crisis as result of his affair, and both end in tragedy. Only one of them actually uses a Chinese actress though, Tang Wei, who is as frightening as ever. It almost seemed like her character in Lust Caution survived execution and grew to become a real killer.

What is interesting to me is that Korean media seems to regard Chinese women, and maybe Chinese people in general, with a kind of uncouthness, roughness, and danger that is nevertheless alluring and exotic. I think of how much Koreans love Twice's Tzuyu. In both these movies, the Chinese woman is looked down upon by Korean society at large, which in turn forces her under the care of exploitative men. Shunned by society externally, she becomes connected to a sensitive Korean man who begins to reject the society internally. The man becomes obsessed with the beautiful foreigner, the obsession driven by the taboo nature. Their affair (steamy or metaphorical) causes both to enter a downward spiral that ends in disaster and death. I will say, the execution of this affair is a lot better in Decision to Leave; the reason for demise is not a straightforward "heartbreak", but a more complex mutually parasitic/destructive relationship. Tang Wei's character claims she didn't truly begin to love the detective until he had violated his convictions as a law enforcer to allow her to escape justice for the crime he just solved. In contrast, Lim Ji-yeon's Chinese woman is very...passive. She resigns herself to her role in the society, though it was brave of her to refuse the colonel's final advances. Sometimes it takes courage to be unromantic.

These two subdued Chinese beauties also remind me of Shu Qi's character in "I Married A Gangster", who is a ill-tempered kungfu fighting bad b*tch who is in Korea for some reason. I didn't continue the movie after 5 minutes because the sword dance she was doing in the beginning that ended in her massacring the attending mafia felt very cringe and stereotypical.

This instance in turn brings up Detective Ma in Extreme Job, the relentless (male) cop who displays an arsenal of surprising talents, one of which is speaking Chinese (which is barely discernable to me) to a group of drug-selling Chinese gangsters.

We can go into all sorts of analysis about where these archetypes come from, but I won't do that; I'm just gonna admit it's a little fun being seen as vaguely unwholesome.

[yourdailymag]

Cho Yeo Jeong for Dazed March 2020

[nirbanox]

Parasite (2019)

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

[cinemagal]

21 FILMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Parasite (2019) dir. Bong Joon-ho

[gmzriver]

Parasite (2019) headers. 

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[brokehorrorfan]

Spoke Art has released Memories of Murder and Parasite posters by Guillaume Morellec. Each 24x36 screen print is limited to 100 and will ship in 5-7 weeks. They're $65 each or $115 for the pair.

[mediamatinees]

Another Eat-the-Rich Film, "Parasite" is an Exploration of Class at Its Deadliest

The wait is (finally) over! My review of Bong Joon-Ho's materpiece, "Parasite" is now live!

Content Warning: Parasite contains depictions of severe class disparity, violence, grooming, and extreme manipulation. Viewer discretion is advised. Spoilers for Parasite ahead! In January of 2020, the English-centered film industry was put on blast for not giving foreign language films their proper flowers. Director Bong Joon-Ho, already celebrated by Hollywood and audiences alike for previous…

[winckler]

Parasite, 기생충 | Gisaengchoong,  2019, Bong Joon Ho

[camyfilms]

기생충 2019

You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned. Look around you. Did you think these people made a plan to sleep in the sports hall with you? But here we are now, sleeping together on the floor. So, there's no need for a plan. You can't go wrong with no plans. We don't need to make a plan for anything. It doesn't matter what will happen next. Even if the country gets destroyed or sold out, nobody cares. Got it?

[adamwatchesmovies]

Parasite (2019)

Parasite is the kind of wholly original film that’s impossible to predict. It also has a lot to say about our world, which means there’s no way you’ll be able to catch everything on a single viewing. With plenty of dark laughs, the kind of suspense that will have your stomach in knots, an ending that sticks with you and masterful direction by Bong Joon-ho, it’ll knock you right off your feet - even if you’ve seen it before.

Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), his wife Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), their son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) and daughter Ki-jeong (Park So-dam) make ends meet by snatching up whatever prospect comes their way. One day, Ki-woo finds a job tutoring Da-hye (Jung Ji-so), the daughter of the wealthy Park family. Sensing an opportunity, the Kims scheme, lie and fake their way into the household.

Part of what makes Parasite such a wild ride is that you never know who you should be cheering for or what the movie wants you to feel. When we first meet the Kim family, they’re scrambling around their dump of a semi-basement apartment looking for a free wifi signal so they can get a shipment of pizza boxes sent to them. Folding the boxes is how they’ll pay for their next meal. When they submit their work, part of their earnings is deducted because 25% of the boxes are badly folded. There are four family members. A quarter of the boxes are no good. Hmmm… There’s something funny and pathetic about the way they manage to screw up such a simple, honest job but excel at conning their way into the Park household. The more elaborate and extravagant their scam becomes, the more they thrive. You know it’s wrong, but there’s something "admirable" about their resourcefulness and determination. You don’t feel too bad for the Park family. Aside from Ki-jeong, everyone is actually doing the job they’ve been hired to do and there’s no way she’d get away with spinning her bullshit into dollars if Mrs. Park wasn’t such a dummy.

Then, your feelings about the Kims start changing. It’s one thing for them to exploit the Parks, whose wealth is wasted on them but this quest to get all of them on the same payroll means taking away jobs from other people. As we eventually find out, the current housekeeper of the Park family, Gook Moon-gwang (Lee Jung-eun) REALLY needs this job they’re stealing from her. As the film progresses, Bong Joon-ho shows us how the lap of luxury has made the Parks into ugly, entitled snobs. The more we see of the parents (Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong), the less we like them. The thing is, the Kims are not much better. They’re also recklessly gobbling up the jobs in their employer’s household at the expense of everyone else. The people currently employed? they’re obstacles to be toppled over, not people with similar plights to their own. They never have a goal to make enough money to move into a nicer home. Their goal becomes to have THIS home, a building they know is too much for two parents and two children. While all of these people are on opposite ends of the financial spectrum, they both disregard others equally.

It would be criminal to give away the big surprises that come at the end of the film - and you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you what they were anyway. Revealing all the intricacies of the scam would be just as heinous. The proof is that even upon multiple viewings, it’s a horrifying delight to see it play out the way it does. I do want to discuss the very very last scene, however. In the film, it’s presented as hopeful, a long-term strategy Ki-woo will follow to get the family what they desire the most. It all seems good but when you take a step back, you realize how hopeless it is. That final moment is about how wide a gap is between the rich and the poor. It's not about leaving us with a smile on our faces. It’s not as clear as it would be in a documentary but it’s a thousand times more impactful - and entertaining.

Parasite is mesmerizing, the kind of film you want to watch over and over so you can fully appreciate everything. It’s full of surprises, masterfully directed and certainly as good as everyone is saying it is. (Original Korean with English Subtitles, July 25, 2022)

[movies-and-theater]

Parasite (2019)

Director Bong Joon-ho

[beautyarchive]

Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019).