A new official Parasite poster appears to spoil the acclaimed Bong Joon Ho film’s big twist. By far one of the biggest films of last year, the South Korean thriller made history on more than one continent, wowing audiences regardless of where it went.
Not only did the film become the first Korean feature to ever win the coveted Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, but it also scored massive wins at this year’s Academy Awards. Parasite took home four Oscars, and in doing so, became the first foreign-language film in the history of the awards ceremony to win the Oscar for Best Picture as well as the first film in history to win both Best International Film and Best Picture. Few who saw it could resist its engaging narrative, which focused on a down and out Seoul family as they gradually ingratiate themselves upon a wealthy family. Now, some nine months since it was first released in North America, Parasite is being rereleased with a black and white cut. Officially dubbed Parasite: Black-And-White Edition, the film is to be released in the UK in theatres and on Curzon Home Streaming service July 24, with a small promotional campaign currently underway.
We now have our first look at a new poster for the Parasite: Black-And-White Edition release, courtesy of Empire. And while it already appears that removing all traces of color from the film makes it quite enticing, the poster adds a spoiler that was previously left out during the marketing of the original, color version. On the left-hand side of poster, directly in the foreground, is a figure. Those who have seen the film know at first glance that the figure is none other than Parasite’s infamous basement dweller, as he watches the family from the home he loves. Check it out below:
The new poster inverts the original color version, which was taken outside and which showed the Park and Kim families standing in front of the house. The basement dweller is arguably Parasite's biggest twist, and seeing this extra, unwanted inhabitant right on the poster is a definite spoiler. It’s hard to understand why the character would be featured so prominently on promotional material, but one of the reasons for it could be an attempt to create more intrigue. A photo of two families isn’t exactly the most engaging image for a film as richly layered as Parasite is. However, Bong Joon Ho’s reasoning for re-releasing the film in black and white was to better highlight the financial disparities between the Parks and the Kims. The foreground presence of the basement dweller may add to this concept, but only for those who’ve already seen the film. Others will simply be left to surmise that something mysterious is going on.
Still, even if the poster doesn’t directly reveal the identity of this person or why it is that they appear to be watching a group of people from within a house, it does take some of the fun away from eventually discovering that the house contains more than initially believed. Considering that Parasite broke records and cleaned up at film festivals all over the world last year, it’s not as if it was necessary at this point to have to try something new to draw viewers in. But a re-release apparently requires a new angle, and this time Parasite appears to be intensifying its mysterious qualities – even if by doing so it happens to reveal more than it probably should.
Source: Empire