One of 2019’s most talked-about films, Parasite is coming to the Brock University Film Society (BUFS) series on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.
Two families intertwine in this critically acclaimed thriller, one poor but enterprising, the other haplessly unaware of its privilege but willing to pay handsomely for services rendered. They first cross paths when young Ki-woo fakes a college degree to become a tutor to a wealthy teenager—a harmless lie that soon begets another, then another accompanied by subterfuge, and yet another featuring out-and-out sabotage. Some reviewers describe it as a fairy tale, though of the Brothers’ Grimm variety, so consider yourself warned.
“What the story doesn’t seem particularly interested in, for all its class consciousness and social currency … is drawing any clean, easy lines between outer wealth and inner worth,” says Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly. “Bong has more than enough to say about the disconnect between money and meritocracy, the vagaries of family, and the things people do when the social contract is suddenly stripped away.”
Director Bong Joon-ho gently pointed out that “once you overcome the one-inch–tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films” when he accepted the Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language Golden Globe earlier this month. On Monday, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, and the film was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Picture along with Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Production Design.
Tickets for all BUFS shows are available at the Film House in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on the evening of screenings. General admission is $9.50 or $7 for Film House members, plus tax. Free BUFS memberships are also available on screening nights.
Visit the BUFS web page for this season’s selection, with additional titles being added to the calendar as they are confirmed. Look for the red B that indicates a BUFS-hosted screening.
For more than 40 years, BUFS has been bringing the best in independent and art house cinema to the Niagara region. The society is supported by the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Brock.
