Episode 42: Parasite and Snowpiercer

Bong Joon-ho directed films. Sarah Watt, William Chen and Jeremy Downing discuss Bong Joon-ho's films Parasite and Snowpiercer. We begin by discussing Parasite, particularly its status as the winner of the 2019 Palm d'Or and the way an audience should come into the watching of the film, mainly with no spoilers. We compare Parasite to the work of Tarantino, particularly Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood and Inglourious Basterds, and how the both directors are working within the realms of building tension and paying it off. Our discussion then moves to Snowpiercer, and its balance of reality and heightened-reality. We compare the film to the work of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, particularly Alien: Resurrection, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children and Micmacs, and the work of Terry Gilliam. We then talk about the themes of class explored in both films, how heavy-handed that exploration is and how the films bring about questions of the morality of class systems.