Tearful Night: What can be learned from winning "Parasites" at the Oscars

"Parasites" has won an Oscar for being cinematic, but also because it is the perfect film for Bernie Sanders' era and the defiance of Trump. Israel has something to learn from it, but does not bother to do so. And also: Why wasn't Netflix degraded as you might think, and what were the lows of the ceremony?

Tearful Night: What can be learned from winning "Parasites" at the Oscars

Oscar 2020 came out as a tight-knit and especially, but in retrospect, it turned out that the Korean "parasites" tore it all up. Not only did he win the Best Film Award, but he added three more awards, all of them flashy - the directing, the original script and the international film. "1917", which was to be his competitor, was satisfied with three awards. One in the photography category and two in some of the less prestigious categories of evening, effects and sound. Whenever the Korean hit was announced during the ceremony and heard in response to the applause from the wall, it was possible to understand how large the popularity gaps and mock competitors are.

Because of all this, "Parasites" became the first non-English-speaking product and yet reaps the biggest prize of all, and of course also the first to be won at the same time in the international film category, which until this year was known as the foreign film. It should be noted, as the archive indicates, that I did not bet on it. After last year's "Rome" failed to achieve this achievement and lost to classic drama of the size of the "Green Book", it seemed that conditions were not yet ripe, and this year the Academy will prefer the war epic "1917".

Explain why this did not happen and how it was that "parasites" won after all will of course be wisdom in retrospect, but what else is left to do at this point? So here are the trends behind the choice.

First of all, in recent years the academy has expanded its ranks massively, and has mainly become younger and more international. Both of these aspects helped the "parasites" - the film, as its box office data segmentation in the United States proved to be, especially endearing to the younger audience. In addition, the cosmopolitan diversity of voters made it easier to choose a non-English-speaking product, something that was previously unacceptable.

The great sensation in the history of the Oscars: "Parasites" won the Best Film Award

Bong Jun-ho with his figurines (Photo: Image Bank)

Bong Jun-ho with the Oscars (Photo: GettyImages)

However, the United States also seems to have a strong lobbying film. The inscription was on the wall and blind people like me had to see it. This past week, anyone who thinks of himself as a cool opinion leader enthusiastically tweeted for "parasites." It happened for artistic reasons, but also social and political.

After all, what does "parasites" deal with? In the polarization between the 99 percent they have nothing and the percentage they have everything; Who is he strongly attacking? The wealthy elite; Against what reign of oppression does he come out? That of pig capitalism. In short, the perfect movie for the generation of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. In addition, the choice of product coming from the other side of the world is also a form of Hollywood defiance against Trump and his policies. These things are not said to ruin the joy, as I myself am the head of the film's fan club, but the obvious facts cannot be ignored, as was also reflected today in the facial expressions of those present at the ceremony. In the warm way that Hollywood embraces the Asian hit, there is even something patronizing and instrumental - the industry uses it, a little with a sense of superiority, to prove how open and enlightened it is.

All this helped Korea win its first Oscar in the international film category, while Israel was already nominated ten times and always lost. We probably have something to learn from the Koreans, but the question of whether anyone here is willing to do that is the answer - massive investment and cultural bigotry, two values ​​that no official or executive in the country seems to have a willingness to adopt.

And then, right in the middle of the screening, the audience began to clap insanely: the movie that caught Cannes with his pants down

The crazy joy of "parasites" (Photo: Imagbank)

Parasites (Photo: GettyImages)

The Korean authorities' support of local cinema and its distribution is enormous. The budget for "Hollywood" non-Hollywood but also insignificant - $ 11.5 million, ten times that of an average Israeli movie or "miserable life," which it competed on behalf of France. The country also invested heavily in the international campaign that opened door-to-door for him until he reached the Oscars.

And perhaps most importantly: For decades, the laws in the Asian country have maintained local industrial status, and among other things, cinemas have to dedicate certain quotas to screenings of Korean films, while restricting the distribution of foreign products. Korea is no less liberal and capitalist country than Israel, and it also favors competitiveness and the free market, yet they understand the importance of it. Can anyone imagine what a fuss would be here if they tried to put similar conditions here? What broken cries and what accusations of communism were aired?

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Wall-to-wall smiles, as well as applause. From "Parasites" (Photo: PR)

Parasites (Photo: Cannes Film Festival, PR)

We will move from national to personal. Quite amazingly, the world premiere of "Parasites" took place alongside one of his main competitors today, "There were times in Hollywood" of Tarantino, this May at the Cannes Film Festival.

Tarantino's movie was first screened, and probably caught the most attention. I ran to write about it, got tired, and told myself I would wait with "parasites" and watch it in the completion marathon at the end of the festival. Who would have believed then that he would come this far?

Lucky for me, I happened to meet a French colleague who caught "parasites" on a special early screening. He told me this was the movie of the year. I believed him, and it was clear early on how right he was. In the first act, in that famous peach scene, something happened that I had never experienced before: the whole hall, and more than a thousand people, laughed and cheered as a demon, all in the middle of the screening. The whole experience was electrifying. It was clear by then that the Korean hit was about to pluck the gold palm, and so began his wonderful journey toward the Hollywood statue.

The day after that screening, I met director Bong Jun-ho for an interview on the Riviera Coast, with a group of journalists from across Europe. So I was impressed, as we saw today, every time he stepped onto the Hollywood stage, that he was noble, charming, kind, kind and full of a healthy sense of humor. It is comforting to know that such people sometimes do good things.

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Sometimes good things happen to good people. Celebrations of "parasites" (Photo: Imagebank)

Oscar 2020 Highlights - Oscar Ceremony - Parasites, Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt, Billy Elish (Photo: GettyImages)

From last week's perspective, winning "parasites" isn't so surprising, as it was clear he had some chance of doing so. From a broader perspective, this is one of the great sensations in the history of the Oscars, something no one would have ever noticed, even a cent when the awards season began. This is an event equivalent to Lester's winning the Premier League championship, for example, or to Greece's winning the European Football Championship.

This win left in the shadow some other significant landmarks that were at the ceremony, such as Joaquin Phoenix's first Oscar, perhaps the best of American movie actors of our generation. Of course we will not dwell on all of them, but only on two points that seem particularly interesting to me.

First of all, if there is one message that comes out of the ceremony, it's the proof that it's worth the wait. Documentary Julia Reichert was nominated for an Oscar for the first time in 1978 and never won it until today, thanks to "American Factory"; Laura Dern went through her baptism of fire in 1992 and also always came out empty-handed, until today she received the figurine in the co-actress category on "Marriage Story"; Photographer Roger Dickins was nominated 13 times between 1994 and 2017 and never won, and for the past three years he has twice won an Oscar - on Blade Runner 2049 two years ago and this year on "1917". Brad Pitt has also been around since the 1990s, and only today won an Oscar in a acting category, and the list goes on.

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the Holy Trinity. Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix with the Oscars (Photo: Imagebank)

Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix (Photo: GettyImages)

Second, on the one hand, Netflix can be seen as the big loser of the ceremony. Her "Pope" and "The Irish" together received zero figurines and "Marriage Story" received only one, but thanks to the streaming service, he first won an Oscar in the game categories. Winning "American Factory" added another prestigious figurine to him, and overall, year after year, the corporation occupies more and more plots in Hollywood and is on the rise, not stagnant and certainly not declining.

In this context, it should be noted that in categories such as the long doco and animation, academics do not necessarily watch movies but go by reputation. "American Factory" won much better but less linked films, for example Syrian "For Sama", perhaps because he enjoyed the name of his producers - the Obama couple. "Toy Story 4" in the animation category won "Mister Link" and the more special "Lost Hand", perhaps because voters almost automatically support Pixar candidates.

It was worth the wait. Brad Pitt tonight (Photo: Image Bank)

Brad Pitt at the Oscars (Photo: GettyImages)

The funny thing is that apart from the "parasites", there were not many surprises at the ceremony, which was, on the whole, about who was comfortable in every way. His ticking was relatively short and to the point, and it had nice moments, such as the exchange between Gal Gadot, Sigourney Weaver and Barry Larson when they presented the musical awards. Then came the creaky musical performances of Eminem and Billy Eilish - but beyond that, there were no downtrodden moments, and the choice to get along without a moderator again proved itself.

The great embarrassment, as usual, was the almost complete exclusion of female talent from most categories. It was particularly unfortunate to see Taika Wattiti's rather childish script winning the figurine at the expense of the brilliant work done by Greta Gervig in "Little Women," which was content with the insulting costume. Bong Jun-ho did well when, in the film category, he took the stage for his stars. In interviews after the ceremony, he said that one day, we would already receive a non-English speaking product as a natural thing. The question is when will we stop considering that the directing category is purely a men's thing as a normal thing.

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