Bong Joon-ho's film ‘Parasite’ has been named the ‘Best Movie of the 21st Century’ by readers of The New York Times (NYT).
On the 2nd (local time), NYT announced that the 2019 film ‘Parasite’ by director Bong Joon-ho ranked first in a survey conducted among over 200,000 readers asking what the ‘Best Movie of the 21st Century’ is.
Previously, ‘Parasite’ also topped the ‘100 Best Movies of the 21st Century’ list compiled by NYT based on evaluations from 500 prominent directors, actors, producers, and other industry figures on the 27th of last month.
Among Korean films, excluding ‘Parasite’, Bong's other film ‘Memories of Murder’ (2005) ranked 49th, while Park Chan-wook's ‘Oldboy’ (2005) and ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016) were ranked 40th and 67th, respectively.
Following ‘Parasite’, the second place went to David Lynch's film ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001). The third place was taken by the Coen brothers' adaptation of the novel ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007).
‘Parasite’ first premiered in South Korea in May 2019, making its mark on the world stage. It had previously been showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. The film has a runtime of 132 minutes and features actors Song Kang-ho, the late Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, and Park So-dam. As Bong's seventh feature film, it is a black comedy, family, and drama film that addresses the meeting of two families from different social classes in South Korea.
The film attracted approximately 10.31 million viewers in South Korea alone, achieving tremendous popularity. Notably, it won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film awards at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020, elevating the status of Korean cinema.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
