Bong Joon-Ho’s latest cinema classic, Parasite, has been dominating Awards season — starting last summer when it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Now in time for its potential historic showing at the Academy Awards, Parasite is now available to own on blu-ray and DVD via Universal Pictures and NEON. And don’t forget we’re giving away copies of the blu-ray!
One of the best films of the year, Parasite is a twisty thriller that bleakly illustrates the class divide between Seoul’s uber-rich and its quite literally subterranean underclass. The movie follows two families, the Parks (played by Cho Yeo-jeong and Lee Sun-kyun, respectively), who are the previously mentioned uber-rich, and the Kims, a family toiling in their semi-basement apartment folding pizza boxes and leeching nearby wi-fi signals. When Kim Ki-woo scams his way into the Park household as an English tutor, he eventually brings along his sister (played by the incomparable Park So-dam) and parents (played by Chang Hyae-jin and frequent Bong collaborator Song Kang-ho). There’s actually a third family involved, but that would be spoiling too much!
What follows is an incisive commentary on the social dynamic beneath the surface of Korea’s shiny hyper capitalism. This dark underbelly is further heightened by Bong’s gorgeous visuals and cutting screenplay. Fortunately for blu-ray consumers, Hong Kyung-pyo’s cinematography shines through in the disc’s 1080p transfer. Considering the film was shot in 4K, though, it would be nice if the film was similarly released in UHD as well. A film of this stature definitely deserves the best presentation possible.
The only drawback to the blu-ray release is its lack of special features. Aside from a film festival Q&A with the director, the only other extras are its two movie trailers and a code for a digital copy. A DVD disc is not included. Still, despite its bare-bones nature, Parasite is a must-own for any movie fan. Click the image below to get your own copy!