There is a scene in this year’s Oscar winner, the South Korean instaclassic, Parasite, in which a rich corporate head honcho assesses his new chauffeur’s driving skills even though he disingenuously insists that he is not taking a test — he sits in the plush backseat of his swanky car while keeping a glassful of liquid balanced in his hand.
When the chauffeur navigates turns without the liquid spilling over, all it takes is his one sharp glance at the glass from the wealthy man for you to know that he has found the right man for the job.
Amazingly, this is all played out without articulating or sharply underlining the machinations of the mind. And this is much like the film itself — Parasite is a hugely entertaining film which is also socially relevant in its examination of the rich-poor class divide. But it makes its points without hammering you on the head with them and without pinpointing any villains.
Richly deserving of the Best Film Oscar, Parasite introduces you to four likeable losers — the Kim family comprising mother, father and college-age son and daughter. Tired of poverty, the son is a Mick on the Make who lands a job tutoring a rich schoolgirl…and if he has to bend a few truths to bag the assignment, it’s okay by him.
The schoolgirl too belongs to a nuclear family, the Parks, comprising father, mother and a brother which are superficially a mirror counterpart of the Kims but whose fortunes are totally different.
Soon all four of the Kims have manipulated their way into employment with the affluent Parks…and if they have to ruthlessly undercut their fellow working-class colleagues, the former employees, to bag the jobs, that’s okay by them.
So far so funny. But when the subterranean recesses of the house throw up an unexpected and unpleasant shock, several just-below-the-surface emotions too raise their hydra heads — pitilessness, prejudices and piteousness.
Director Bong Joon-Ho’s film shook me to the core for brilliantly unmasking the sheer survival extremes that perfectly ordinary humans seem capable of in our universal frenzy for getting ahead.
I recommend Parasite as a must-watch for everyone though I do also feel a twinge of regret that 1917, tipped to bag the crown pre-Oscars, lost out on the Best Film win.
Sam Mendes has been a favourite director of mine ever since American Beauty and he majestically takes on a totally different genre with the World War I saga 1917 which is shot to look like one long breathless take following two soldiers who brave the dangers of the battle front lines to deliver a crucial message.
No matter how many war films you may have already seen, you have to watch this one which blends incredible technique (can you spot the cuts?) with visceral subject matter. Ah well…it has deservedly won the Best Cinematography Oscar at least.
The two major male acting Oscars have gone to two popular films which perhaps need no further push. The widely seen Joker has won Joaquin Phoenix the Best Actor award, and about time I say. I remember being amazed when he didn’t win for the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line back in 2005 though Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for the same film.
He has almost always been good but is particularly so of late in films like Master, Her, Inherent Vice and even the quirky Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot which I caught in the right mood at a film festival. And the ever-shiny Brad Pitt won the Best Supporting Actor for Tarantino’s popular Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood.
His acceptance speech was memorable, especially his shout out to his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio (who was nominated for Best Actor but didn’t win) in which he charmingly joked, “Leo, I’ll ride on your coat-tails any day, man!”
There’s no doubting the emotional veracity of Renee Zellweger’s performance as legendary singer-actress Judy Garland in the biopic Judy but I feel what helped her win the Best Actress Oscar was the fact that the competition was not super-duper strong this year (what? No Meryl Streep nomination!).
Still, it’s good to see Renee back on screen after a six-year hiatus and the film is an immersive experience that takes you back to the mid-twentieth century and the golden age of Hollywood…though I wish there had been a little more of the latter.
There are two major A-list leading ladies in the nominations for Best Supporting Actress — Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie — besides veteran character actress Kathy Bates and dewy but doughty youngster Florence Pugh.
But Laura Dern won for the predictable but affecting divorce drama, Marriage Story. Walking a fine line, she plays the sharp-nosed divorce lawyer as steely and committed but always human and never a caricature. Dern plays tough girrrls with flair and I thought she was a standout even besides Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon in the TV series Big Little Lies.
Running through the list of other Oscar nominations and wins gives you a sense of cinematic smorgasbord that is on offer. Take your pic(k).
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