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"Parasite" is a wickedly humorous suspense
movie about class struggles set in modern South Korea, following
a down-on-its-luck family of four who worm their way into jobs
in a wealthy household.
"I think we're touching on courtesy toward human beings, human
dignity. Whether one becomes parasitic, or symbiotic and
coexistent in the best sense, I think might depend on how much
courtesy one has toward human beings," director Bong Joon-ho
said in a press conference in Seoul.
The unanimous decision to award "Parasite" the top prize at
Cannes on Saturday partly came down to its unexpected mash-up of
genres, as the darkly comic tale doubles up as a thriller, with
flashes of violence.
It was the first Palme d'Or at Cannes for a South Korean film.
Bong said he conceived and began writing "Parasite" in 2013,
when he was filming the critically-acclaimed movie "Snowpiercer"
starring Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton.
Both movies portray the rich and the poor, but instead of the
science fiction setting of a train in "Snowpiercer", Bong said
he focused "Parasite" on two families - one poor, one rich - to
show the wealth gap through "the most basic unit of our lives."
"We all have families, but they're all different," he said.
Shares in the movie's production company, Barunson Entertainment
& Arts, extended gains to rise 20 percent on Tuesday from the
previous day's close, compared to a 1.9 percent gain in the
junior KOSDAQ index.
"Parasite" opens in South Korea on May 30, in France on June 5
and in North America in November, distributor CJ ENM said on
Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Dae-woung Kim; editing by Darren
Schuettler)
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