A Few Words About A few words about...™ Parasite - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

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Every now and then the academy will give an award to a foreign film rather than an American film .this has been going on since 1938, like Grand Illusionverus the story of Louis Pasteur.Some time the academy can be wrong too.

Actually neither one was honored as Best Picture for 1938. That honor went to You Can't Take It With You. The Story of Louis Pasteur was a 1936 film.

 

[Viking61]

No region codes - but as there's not one available in the UK, either - no English subtitles. Not great, unless you're fluent in Korean (or can read French or German subtitles).

https://www.archambault.ca/Pages/Details?lang=en-ca&id=3097951

 

[Tino]

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Every now and then the academy will give an award to a foreign film rather than an American film .this has been going on since 1938, like Grand Illusionverus the story of Louis Pasteur.Some time the academy can be wrong too.

No foreign language film has ever won Best Picture.

 

[Dick]

No foreign language film has ever won Best Picture.

It's usually been considered sufficient to bequeath an Oscar to a Foreign film in that very category, while leaving "Best Picture" strictly for English-speaking films. I am quite pleased about PARASITE's win, and our most vocal tweeting opponent to this can stuff it. I feel it's a brilliant film, and am so glad it set a new precedent. Personally, I have felt that foreign releases have way-y- too many times surpassed the quality of our same-old-same-old domestic releases and that this win, along with the director's, finally redresses the long dearth of recognition that shouts, Wow!, other countries can actually make great movies, too! The Academy never specifically limited Oscar wins to American artists. This has been more like an artistic Olympics, but in which anyone outside of the hosting country has until now been simply locked out. GRAND ILLUSION should have won.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

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Every now and then the academy will give an award to a foreign film rather than an American film .this has been going on since 1938, like Grand Illusionverus the story of Louis Pasteur.Some time the academy can be wrong too.

The Academy can't really be wrong, as it's opinion. We can disagree with some of their choices, and history hasn't been kind to some, but they can't actually be wrong.

You are wrong on your 1938 Oscar history, though. "Grand Illusion" was nominated for BP but didn't win - "You Can't Take It With You" won.

"Parasite" was the 1st non-English film to ever win BP, which was a big deal.

"Story of Louis Pasteur" was a different year than "Grand Illusion" and it didn't win BP. It was nominated but lost to "Great Ziegfeld".

Paul Muni did win Best Actor for "Pasteur", though...

 

[Tino]

As a Blu-ray, like all of Universal's new products, it's fine, although, as a true 4k production, I wonder why, especially after it won some awards or other, it's not a 4k release. Possibly that will go to Criterion.

4K release coming from Universal June 2

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...e-2019-4k-release-6-2-20.365972/#post-4842739

 

[Howard Tom]

"Story of Louis Pasteur" was a different year than "Grand Illusion" and it didn't win BP. It was nominated but lost to "Great Ziegfeld".

...And it is neither a foreign language nor an international film, being a Warner Bros prestige film from 1936.

As for "La Grande Illusion," there was no award for a foreign language film until 1956, although there was a special honorary award presented between 1947 and 1955 (except for 1953). These films were named so there was no actual competition between them and other international films of that year.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

...And it is neither a foreign language nor an international film, being a Warner Bros prestige film from 1936.

"whyme?" didn't claim "Pasteur" was a foreign language/international film - I think he meant to convey that the superior foreign "Illusion" lost to the inferior Hollywood "Pasteur".

There was a lot wrong in that post - we don't need to find other issues!

 

[Howard Tom]

"whyme?" didn't claim "Pasteur" was a foreign language/international film - I think he meant to convey that the superior foreign "Illusion" lost to the inferior Hollywood "Pasteur".

There was a lot wrong in that post - we don't need to find other issues!

Apologies, I missed the part where this film was cited even though it wasn't competing in the same year as "La Grande Illusion." A true non-sequitir...

 

[willyTass]

Can’t believe all the awards this film won

if a realistic snapshot into modern Korean society is all it takes to be labelled “masterpiece” then where does that leave the infinitely better “Killer Joe” by William Friedkin ?.

 

[JoshZ]

if a realistic snapshot into modern Korean society is all it takes to be labelled “masterpiece” then where does that leave the infinitely better “Killer Joe” by William Friedkin ?.

Basically no part of this sentence makes any sense. You have described neither Parasite nor Killer Joe.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

It'd be a better movie with this in it!

 

[willyTass]

Basically no part of this sentence makes any sense. You have described neither Parasite nor Killer Joe.

Was wondering how long before the cultural marxists/ PC crowd would chime in

yes I’ve lived with Koreans since the 1980’s and while watching Parasite I kept thinking “when is something unusual or inspired going to happen”. Parasite IS a reflection of the dog eat dog struggle that exists in many parts of Korea. It has one of the highest suicide rates in the world for a reason.

as for killer Joe, even Friedkin himself described it as an accurate snapshot of what contemporary lower class American society has been reduced too. But what would he know

Korea has great wealth and a lot of poverty and many homeless people. And sometimes poverty makes people do terrible things. I’ve also lived in Cambodia , Vietnam and Thailand and witnessed extreme poverty there and seen the scams people resort to to survive.Over there there is no government handouts , no single mothers pension , no assistance from government whatsoever. Parasite was a movie about a poor family scamming rich people . This is not a mind blowing revelation to people who have lived in Asia .My wife is Asian and she shrugged her shoulders after watching Parasite wondering what the fuss was all about. Sadly with liberals we are forbidden to have our opinion and I must worship at the altar of the masterpiece that is Parasite.

I enjoyed watching Parasite , it just was hyped beyond merit. But that’s just MY opinion if ok with you

 

[Robert Crawford]

Was wondering how long before the cultural marxists/ PC crowd would chime in

Sadly with liberals we are forbidden to have our opinion and I must worship at the altar of the masterpiece that is Parasite.

Let's stop with the name-calling and labeling of people! We encourage passionate debate, but without such personal rhetoric directed towards each other. Also, no political labels! Thank you.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Re: Post #53

A) All art is subjective. If you don't like it that is your opinion, and you are welcome to debate it. No one is forcing you to like the film.

B) Roger Ebert once observed "It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it." If you have lived in Korea I will defer to your experiences living in that country. The appeal of Parasite lies in the quote by Mr. Ebert - The film is meticulously crafted and features a very strong cast of performers. Much of the praise for the film revolves around those aspects. For my money, a film that was in the running for Best Cinematography of the year, in addition to the other areas recognized by the various film awards for the year.

There are all kinds of aspects of reality that are presented in films. Sometimes poorly, sometimes expertly. It isn't the existence of these plot elements, but how they are executed that separates good films from bad films. For me, the scams are presented in a very entertaining manner regardless of how common or rare they are in the society depicted in the film.

- Walter.

 

[TravisR]

B) Roger Ebert once observed "It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it."

 

[JoshZ]

Whoo-wee, this thread went off the rails at lightning speed.

Still puzzled as to how Killer Joe was a "realistic snapshot into modern Korean society."

 

[theonemacduff]

I loved it because it has the propulsion and feel of a classical tragedy, with not a wasted shot or line in the whole thing. The turn in the tone is not really all that great, if you've ever watched other Korean films. Quite a number of them mix tonalities in a similar way. Plus, as has probably already been pointed out, the poor family are not parasites; their relationship to the rich family is symbiotic, the provide things which the rich think they need. The parasite is the guy in the basement, and he's the one who is basically responsible for the tonal shift. For the rain-and-stair sequence alone this was worth the Oscar, beautifully conceived, shot, and edited. It literally took my breath away as I watched it in the theatre.

But, your mileage may vary. De gustibus non est disputandem, as they say.