GENRE BENDER (PARASITE)

The word "masterpiece" is not one to be uttered casually or liberally.

It is a word that should be used sparingly and only for a work of art that is flawless.

Ever since it received an eight minute standing ovation last year at Cannes, Bong Joon-ho's genre defying 'Parasite' has been labelled a masterpiece.

The South Korean film has scooped numerous awards and earlier this month became the only feature since Delbert Mann's 'Marty' in 1955 to capture a Palme d'Or and a Best Picture Oscar.

Not only that but it was the first movie in s language other than English to claim the Academy Awards' top prize as well as Best Foreign Language Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

As a result of its awards success, Joon Ho's film has raced to box office profits of over $200 million globally.

So why has the film resonated with audiences, with critics and during awards voters?

'Parasite' tells the story of a South Korean family living in a tiny basement apartment who just about make ends meet by folding pizza delivery boxes.

Song Kang-ho's father Kim Ki-taek, Jang Hye-jin's mother Park Chung-sook, Choi Woo-shik's son Kim Ki-woo and Park So-dam's daughter Kim Ki-jung just about scrape a living together.

Nevertheless they are a tight family unit who look after each other as they cadge free wi-fi.

When the family is docked 10 per cent in their wages for not folding a quarter of the pizza boxes properly, they move quickly to limit the damage - Kim Ki-jung and Kim Ki-woo try to sweet talk the delivery company into giving him a different job.

Opportunity knocks, however, in the form of Kim Ki-woo's college friend, Park Seo-joon's Min-hyuk who gives him a rock that he claims will bring them financial luck and persuades him to take his place as an English tutor to the teenage daughter of the wealthy Park family.

Min-hyuk is heading abroad but is smitten by Jung Ji-so's Park Da-hye who he intends to ask out when she is old enough to go to university.

Kim Ki-woo grabs this opportunity, forging certificates with the help of Kim Ki-jung and turns up in the modernist luxury home of the Parks to secure the role of tutor.

The girl's mother, Cho Yeo-jeong's Choi Yeon-gyo insists on sitting in on the first lesson and us so impressed by the way he handles it, she hires him under the pseudonym Kevin.

Kim Ki-woo spots a chance to land Kim Ki-jung a job there too when the mother shows him a painting by her young son,. Jung Hyeon-jun's Native American obsessed eight year old Park Da-song.

While they pretentiously analyse the eight year old's portrait, he claims he might know a teacher who can unleash Park Da-song's full potential.

Before long, Kim Ki-jung is posing as an art therapy teacher called Jessica and the Kims spot other opportunities to inveigle their way into the Parks' plush lives.

But how long can they maintain their deception?

In a pop culture world where songwriters like Damon Albarn effortlessly mash up a range of musical styles like electronica, hip hop, trip hop, art pop, alternative rock and reggae through his often brilliant virtual band Gorillaz, Joon-ho pulls off the equally mesmerising feat of a genre fluid film.

Refusing to be pigeonholed, 'Parasite' thrillingly blends sharp satire with the macabre tone of a Coen Brothers' black comedy, the edge of your seat tension of a HitchcockIan thriller and the savvy social commentary of a Jordan Peele horror movie. 

The film has resonated around the globe because we live in a world of increasing inequality despite the advancement of technology.

It is a world where a small section of society live in extreme wealth, while a lot of people struggle to eke out a living with many major cities experiencing housing crises.

Against this backdrop of economic inequality, the world has become an increasingly harsh place where ruthlessness is rewarded and admired and people are encouraged to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

That harsher world has seen the bourgeoisie receive a number of shocks to their system - not least in the form of Brexit, the election of US President Donald Trump and the breaking down of old political certainties.

But have those shocks to the system really benefitted the poorest sections of society?

Not only does Joon-ho and Hen Jin-won's Academy Award winning, genre bending screenplay capture all these themes but the movie is packed with smart visual metaphors.

The Kims have to scale stairs and steep streets to get to the Parks' home.

When they do infiltrate the house, there are vast spaces that Hong Kyung-pyo's camera emphasises amid all the glossy luxury an emptiness in the Park family's lives.

Joon-ho and Jin-won playfully have Kim Ki-woo reminding us that the film is packed with visual metaphors.

But even something as bland as a fake business card takes on a special resonance, with the Parks' patriarch Lee Sun-kyun's Park Dong-ik showing his bourgeois gullibility by praising its professionalism.

Even the Parks' appropriation of Native American culture is glossy and stereotypical.

The performances in 'Parasite' are stunning - so much so that it would be wrong to single out a particular actor for praise and that includes Lee Ju ng-eun as the Parks' housekeeper Gook Moon-gwang and Park Myung-hoon as her husband.

Indeed, along with its main awards season rival Sam Mendes' '1917', 'Parasite' makes a compelling case for the Oscars to introduce an ensemble cast award or, at least, a gong for best casting.

Composer Jung Jae-il also deserves praise for his subtle musical score which Joon-ho uses cleverly and unobtrusively.

'Parasite' is a wonderful concoction and, yes, it  deserves to be hailed as a masterpiece.

As good as '1917' was, no-one can credibly question the Academy Awards' shock decision to cast aside its conservatism and shower Joon-ho's movie with the top prize 

But is it game changing in the same way that 'Moonlight' has undoubtedly been for African American filmmakers?

Hopefully, its Oscar success will level the playing field for international movies to reach mainstream audiences and receive cinema's top accolades - although I remain to be convinced.

After all, we have had false dawns before.

Michel Hazanavicius' 'The Artist's' nod to the greatness of silent cinema seems a flash in the pan now.

There was no great rush to emulate its success with more silent films.

'Parasite' will try to build a legacy on television - HBO has commissioned a six episode miniseries based on Joon-ho's movie.

One can only hope that in its enthusiasm for a series, HBO comes up with scripts that are worthy of Joon-ho's absorbing, mind blowing, innovative feature. 

Even if they do make a mess of it - and there is nothing to suggest that HBO will - the fact will remain that 'Parasite' is sa perfect film.

There is no doubt that it will be a movie we will be talking about for many decades to come.

('Parasite' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on February 7, 2020)