Explained: Why South Korean dark comedy ‘Parasite’ won best picture in Oscars 2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: South Korean twisted class satire Parasite won the best international film Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards, the first Korean film to do so. It was the hot favourite for the award but had to defeat contenders including Pedro Almodóvar's mid-life memoir Pain & Glory, and French social comment drama Les Misérables.

Director Bong Joon Ho also scripted history by becoming the first Asian and South Korean filmmaker to bag the best director Oscar for his movie 'Parasite'.

A cleverly crafted, genre-bending story set in a sprawling house has been wildly successful around the world.

The film revolves around the Kim family which infiltrates into the rich Park family, leading to sometimes comic but ultimately tragic results.

Parasite no doubt deserves praise for its multi-genre storyline. The film starts with Kim clan living in a small basement apartment looking for free wifi to be able to use their phones. Riddled with how to make money and make ends meet, the family often takes any jobs available and also know exactly how to take care of each other.

Son Ki-woo's friend, before moving abroad offers him work at a rich family, as an English tutor in his place. The Kim family finally sees an opportunity for a steady paycheque and conceives a plan. After Ki-woo gets employed at Park's house, the entire family soon began to infiltrate by taking other jobs with the family, as a housekeeper, driver, and an art therapist.

The director Bong Joon-ho then quickly shifts the gear into something dark and unsettling. The Kim family was hoping to earn enough and move out of the basement apartment, but they end up right there, hoping for the same things as before. On the other hand, Kim also finds himself trapped in another basement, something he thought he could never imagine resorting to.

Parasite talks about a lot about society, the symbiotic relationship between the two classes of rich and poor, how they see life differently when on different ends, no matter how bad your situation is, there is always someone who is going through worse.

The drastic difference between the living style and conditions of both classes was also seen in the movie. Kim who envies his boss eventually figures it out. Park is also just trying to provide for his family.

Overall, Parasite will not only take you to the other side of the world and still be relatable, but also show you the world on the other side. Once you get past the barrier of subtitles, there is a whole different world out there, with amazing cinema to experience.

Director Bong Joon-ho is not new to the western audiences and first broke on the international scene with his second South Korean language feature "Memories of Murder", based on a real incident and still considered to be his best by many fans.

The rich-poor divide has been a recurring theme in his films, be it a monster movie "The Host" or his first full-fledged English-language film "Snowpiercer", starring Hollywood star Chris Evans and his favourite Song Kang Ho. "Parasite", Bong's seventh film, also features Song as does "The Host".