Parasite – Review

I had heard about Parasite from a friend, but was not getting enough time to watch it. To be totally honest, I tend to procrastinate watching movies in foreign languages as it takes me more time to follow.

Parasite is a South Korean dark comedy thriller film, directed by Bong Joon Ho.

It is a story of an underprivileged family. Everyone in the family is smart but unemployed when the movie starts. As the movie progresses, they manage to con a wealthy family and end up working for them.

Then something unexpected happens and it changes the lives of both the families.

The social satire is shown through a very simple story of two families. The writing is to the point and smartly funny. The movie connects with the viewers from the word go.

The cinematography and screenplay is a visual treat, be it the wide outdoors or the shots inside the house. Also, the background music enhances the mood of every scene.

Last but not the least, the actors have done a splendid job. Their work seemed very fresh and effortless. As far as I am concerned, it felt very refreshing to me. Others might differ on this as I haven’t seen much content in the similar space.

The story very intelligently differentiates the rich and the poor by using rain metaphorically. A night’s rain floods the entire neighborhood of the poor, whereas it’s a very calming and beautiful event for the rich. This shows how a beautiful message can be conveyed through a scene, instead of focusing on specific character development.

The amalgamation of light comedy and suspense makes Parasite a modern day masterpiece.

Parasite at the Oscars

Parasite was nominated for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Direction, Film Editing, Production Design and International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Parasite is the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Also, Bong Joon Ho is the first South Korean director to win the Best Director Award.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Nightcrawler – Review

Genre: Crime, Thriller
Director: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Running Time: 117 minutes

Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut Nightcrawler is about Louis Bloom, a thief turned crime journalist based in Los Angeles. The story shows us Bloom’s obsession with his work and to what extent he can go to justify it.

The movie begins with brilliant night shots of Los Angeles. A light and soothing background music makes up the mood of the scene. The empty highway, the unoccupied bus station, the street lights and other shots of the city keep on rolling along with the opening credits. Within the first five minutes of the movie we are introduced to the main protagonist, Louis Bloom, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. The first scene we see Bloom, he tries to sneak into a restricted area and gets stopped by a security guard. He confronts the security guard and ends up stealing his watch. Desperate to get work, one night while driving by a car accident scene, he meets Joe Loder (played by Bill Paxton), who records videos of accidents and crimes that occur across Los Angeles.

Next morning while surfing through the news channels, Bloom finds the video telecast of last night’s accident. This gives him the idea of filming and selling videos to the media. He sells off his bicycle to buy a camcorder and a police scanner. This begins Bloom’s journey as a freelance crime journalist.

Rene Russo plays the character of Nina Romina, an independent woman who is the director of a news channel. She takes interest in Bloom’s work and encourages him. Later on Bloom hires an sidekick (played by Riz Ahmed) to assist him in his work.

Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed have small but very effective roles as they help to build up the darkness in Bloom’s character. Rene Russo gives a good performance but Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of Louis Bloom stands out tall.

The film has been predominantly shot in the night, with Gyllenhaal’s character slipping into every crime scene or any sort of mayhem. Thus explaining the title ‘Nightcrawler‘. Gilroy’s writing and direction is undoubtedly praiseworthy.

After tasting success in Brokeback Mountain and Prisoners, Gyllenhaal gives one of his best performances to light up this eloquent, communicative and ambitious character. The movie gets darker as it progresses and ends with a strong message.

Phrases like ‘a modern masterpiece’, ‘deliriously thrilling’, ‘destined to be a classic’ and ‘pulse pounding thriller’ have been linked with the film. So treat yourselves with this amazing crime thriller and I bet you won’t be disappointed.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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We’ll Never Have Paris – Review

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Direction: Simon Helberg, Jocelyn Towne
Cast: Simon Helberg, Melanie Lynskey, Maggie Grace, Zachary Quinto, Jason Ritter, Alfred Molina
Running Time: 92 minutes

The story revolves around Quinn, a twenty-eight year old frail guy who is in a long term relationship with Devon for ten years. Quinn is about to ask Devon to marry him, but faces a mental crisis, he thinks he has mistaken complacency for love as he has been with one woman his entire life. So, he wants to fool around experimenting his love life and decides to break up with her. Later, he realizes that he has done a terrible mistake and wants to get back together with Devon. And this takes him to Paris.

Romantic comedies are always ‘feel-good’ movies and you will like most of them if you restrict yourselves from finding logical explanations. Helberg’s performance is the main attraction of the film. We all know about his comic timing, but he proves his versatility in a romantic role. Both Helberg and Lynskey are not new to this genre, both have had their share of experience working in sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory and Two and Half Men. Still they manage to impress the audience with their fresh performances. Quinto does a good job playing Jameson, Quinn’s go-to friend who chips in with advices whenever Quinn needs one. Maggie Grace plays the character of Kelsey, a long time friend of Quinn and is in love with him.

The movie is based on a true story and Helberg’s writing makes it even better. Simon Helberg and Jocelyn Towne have done a fine work directing the film. Another good aspect of the film is the cinematography, be it the close solo face shots, the one to one interactions or the backdrop shot of Eiffel tower, the whole of it is amazing.

I don’t guarantee the film to be a laugh riot, but the character of Quinn will definitely make you laugh. Dialogues like “I’m sorry I don’t cook. My family ordered in a lot more when I was a kid.” and “I think I would like to be buried here today if possible.” shows Quinn’s sense of humor.

The music of the film is also commendable. I personally liked the song which plays during the ending credits. I would recommend you to watch the film even if you are not much into romantic comedies. The movie is not predictable and you will surely like it.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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