Parasite (2019) vs. High and Low (1963).

Parasite reminded me of High and Low, both dealing with similar themes, and how the movies are both shot similarly, when it came to reflecting the poor vs. the rich I felt.

Both have really goot stories, and I would say that although High and Low is the better shot, and better directed movie, Parasite has a better screenplay, in the sense that it builds towards a bigger, more dramatic and emotional ending I felt. Parasite is also more character driven, where as High and Low is a little more plot driven, and I think I like character driven better.

So I think I will go with Parasite. What do you think?

High and Low by a very narrow margin.
I give them both a .
Bong Joon-ho was probably inspired by it, see; cowboys and Indians scene.

HIgh and Low all the way and I watched both movies on the same weekend

High and Low by a country mile.
It's a comedy though to Kurosawa in the same way that Psycho was to Hitchock.
It's also the film equivalent of what Joey the Lips called Jazz in The Commitments. But nonetheless it's one of the 10 greatest movies for me.

As well-written and well-directed a film like High and Low was (and I have the utmost admiration for Kurosawa), it is based on a black-and-white worldview - a world of stark contrasts and fixed identities (heaven vs hell, height vs depth, rich vs poor, law/order vs anarchy) that rarely interact and are independent of each other. Parasite tackles similar themes but with far greater nuance and accuracy. The rich are as dependent on the poor and are also "parasites" on the unseen/hidden labour that sustains it (in Parasite the home of both families is metaphorically the same body of a living organism). I cant help but draw the comparison to how ancient Greek society was highly dependent on a significant slave population that allowed the possibility for Greek democracy. Furthermore, in Parasite social mobility is always a possibility albeit the space left behind will be necessarily taken up by others, indicating that society should be seen as a autopoietic system rather than an inorganic/artificial whole that is put together by two separate parts (the high and the low).

Both are excellent films. I would give the edge to Parasite. It has that gritty Korean edge to it that I love. High and Low of course has the excellent Kurosawa touch as well. Can't go wrong with either one.

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Parasite is just cheap shit.

Like comparing Concorde to a paper aeroplane.

High and Low, but not just because it came out in the '60s and Kurosawa made it.

I'm a huge fan of Bong Joon-Ho. I'm probably in the minority here, but I think he covered this territory more interestingly in Snowpiercer.

Good question. I remember loving the first half of High and Low, but being slightly disappointed with the second half since the emotional core of the first half was gone.

Parasite was an instant favorite, but given how a lot of your appreciation of it will depend on whether you went into it blind, part of me wonders if it will have diminishing returns when I revisit it.

I'd have to rewatch both films to be able to make this decision, but as of now, I'll say Parasite.

Parasite - and this is after several viewings, Joon-ho movies always get stronger with re-viewings, and it might be because of the nuance, that there's more going on than I thought on a first pass. After seeing it in theaters I read some things about the economics of the film and how it relates to South Korea specifically and the fallen middle class there, so that added another layer for me.

And there's what I call the Joon-ho swerve, those moments where you think he's going one way, but he takes a sharp turn the other. It always keeps me off balance in a good way and facilitates re-watches nicely. The Host did it, Mother for sure, in Parasite I thought, "well this is an amusing social satire", and then WHAM! it takes a dark, unexpected left that feels like a punch to the gut.

Now I love High and Low, it also has its ideas about the lower and upper class, it has its emotion, and it's Kurosawa, so you have one of the greats directing the piece. But it also leans into police procedural territory, and that makes it a little mechanical for me. I love procedurals, watched Dragnet and others like it on TV as a kid and ate 'em up, but it can suck some of the raw, earthy emotion out of a piece.

Despite that very small issue, I admire High and Low and would make it one of my nominees for best of the year... but Parasite wins my best picture, hands down, and would take the edge in this conversation.

Though I own 'em both, so to heck with it, why have a Vs. when I'm happy to watch and enjoy each.

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