A Korean Masterpiece: Parasite Won Four Oscars on a Historical Night

Author: Muhammad Endrasta Wicaksono

On the night of 10th February 2020, the South Korean film “Parasite” took home the most awards at the Oscars 2020. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best International Feature Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director, for Bong Joon Ho. This film is about two families from different classes in Seoul, one who lives in poverty and one who is a rich family. However, what really makes the film stunning is that “Parasite” writes many new histories.

The film became the first non-English language film in Oscar history to win the Best Picture award. Previously, only ten foreign-language films that were nominated for the Best Picture award and none of them won. Furthermore, “Parasite” was also the first film from South Korea to win the International Feature Film award. Moreover, the film is also the first film to win both Best International Feature and Best Picture.

Other spectacular films such as, “1917”, “Joker”, and “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” had been considered as a major contender for the movie. Still, “Parasite” is triumphant among them. The only film that almost beat “Parasite” for the most awards at the Oscars 2020 is “1917” with fell short at three awards.

However, the glory of “Parasite” does not well received for some people. Some suggested that a non-English movie should never win an Oscar because of Oscar in an American prize. On top of that, President Trump even suggested that an American movie should have won instead of “Parasite”. Others even suggested that “Parasite” as a foreign film should not be nominated with regular films. The word “regular” seems to suggest that only English-language films can be nominated for Oscars.

The triumphant of “Parasite” clearly shows that Asia’s films are now a force to be reckoned with in the film industry. With four awards, “Parasite” creates many new histories that other films cannot do, especially Hollywood’s films. Those criticisms also show that international society cannot easily accept the rise of non-Hollywood’s film. However, that might change as “Parasite” can be seen as the spearhead of the future non-Hollywood’s films.