Gisaengchung
The 2019 Palme D’Or and 2020 Best Film Oscar winner is an urgent, brilliantly layered look at timely social themes, which finds writer-director Bong Joon Ho (we also present his ‘Mickey 17’ this season) in near-total command of his craft. Don’t miss this single screening.
In this pitch-black modern fairytale, we meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide "indispensable" luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims' newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the two families. This has been hailed by some critics as a nearly perfect film, from Bong's masterful use of framing and visual language and control of a wildly shifting tone to the performances (all terrific) to the commentary on class division. Also won Best Director, Original Screenplay and Foreign Film Oscar! (Subtitles)
South Korea 2019 Bong Joon Ho 132m