[FIELDWORK] PARASITE, Alley in front of Kim’s semi-basement apartment

PARASITE, DIR. BONG JOON-HO (2019)           

Alley in front of Kim’s semi-basement apartment, Ahyeon-Dong, South Korea

Windows of Kim family’s semi-basement apartment, barely above the ground. A scene from Parasite 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho.

Parasite, a black comedy thriller, was directed by Bong Joon-ho and released in 2019¹. This film focuses on the issue of human greed and class divisions by showing the symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim family². The film starts with the semi-basement apartment of the Kim family, where their windows are barely above the ground and can only get Wi-Fi in the bathroom. From this opening scene, the audience would be able to realize that the Kim family’s lives were full of fierce and survival. In the film, an alley with a supermarket and stairs were shown as the space in front of the Kim family’s semi-basement apartment³. In particular, the ‘stairs’ in this alley have played an important role throughout the film, representing the deep meaning of social hierarchy. 

Ki-woo and Ki-jung (Kim family) trying to get Wi-Fi in the bathroom. A scene from Parasite 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho. 

Upper pic: Supermarket next to the alley, where Ki-woo’s friend asked Ki-woo for a part-time tutor. A scene from Parasite 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Bottom pics: Visited the actual site, Ahyeon-Dong, (Doijissal supermarket & Alley).

When I visited the actual site, I was able to see the differences between the film and reality. In the film, the whole alley was presented as dark and hopeless by showing less light and fewer people in the alley. But in reality, a lot of people were talking with laughs, and working actively; the alley was not hopeless at all. It seems the dark mood was purposely created in the film to show the ‘alley of the poor’. On the other hand, the appearance of a supermarket and the stairs in the film were similar to reality. The (Doijissal) supermarket next to the alley was actually about to collapse, and the stairs in the alley were old and dirty, just like how it is shown in the film. Moreover, at the end of the alley, I’ve experienced standing on the stairs, looking up and looking down. This experience provided me to think of the poor looking up the rich, and the rich looking down on the poor, just like how Park and Kim’s family acted throughout the film. 

Upper pic: Kim’s family running down the stairs. A scene from Parasite 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho. Bottom pics: Visited the actual site, Ahyeon-Dong. Stairs located at the end of the alley (Different views: looking up & looking down). 

The ‘stairs’ in this alley were presented through the Kim family, who escaped from the Park family’s apartment and ran down the stairs in heavy rain. In this scene, there was a camera zoom-in for Ki-woo, who stopped in the middle of the stairs and stared at his sneakers being soaked in rain. The purpose of this zoom-in was to show how despairful the Kim family’s future is, just like how rainwater flows down the stairs like a waterfall. Moreover, the purpose of showing Kim’s family running down the ‘stairs’ was to compare the social hierarchy with the Park family. In the film, the wealthy Park family were mostly rising the ‘stairs’ as they were living in the high hills, but the Kim family were mostly descending the ‘stairs’ since they were living in the semi-basement apartment. These differences seem to metaphorically show the gap between rich and poor. Also, different styles of the ‘stairs’ were presented in the film to describe different social hierarchies as well. The ‘stairs’ of the wealthy Park family were fancy and clean, indicating that they are in the higher class, while the ‘stairs’ of the destitute Kim family were dirty and old, indicating that they are in the lower class.

Ki-woo stopped running down the stairs, and start staring at his sneakers being soaked in the rain (Zoom-in). A scene from Parasite 2019, directed by Bong Joon-ho.  

— Hyokyung Nam, 3035740764 

Notes:

1 First South Korean film to receive Academy Awards nominations. Bong Joon-ho, received 6 nominations and won 4 awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.  

2 Elise Taylor, “The Haunted Homes for Parasite”. Feb 8, 2020. 

3 In both the film and reality, the supermarket is located next to the alley, and the stairs are located at the end of the alley.