Parasite Forges New Paradigm on Transnational and National Cinema Intersection

Abstract

Few would disagree that Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has been a global phenomenon having broken box office records across the globe, bringing home the Palme d’Or and becoming the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Consequently, there is an abundance of material on Parasite and how its success on the global stage has turned it into a hugely significant film and how it has broken the one-inch barrier of subtitled films. Its success, however, is better understood when also examining the factors leading up to its unprecedented journey and how Bong’s films are closely connected with developments in the Korean film industry and how it is interrelated – but also self-dependent – to transnational flows. In so doing, this paper explores the complex but interdependent relationship between national and transnational cinema within the context of Bong’s films before examining the transnational themes of social disparity in Parasite and ultimately what were the different facets involved in its success, how this is all connected and how the film has established a new paradigm on the national and transnational cinema intersection.