sun

Two boys practicing their swordplay, Harlem, 1939–1940.

I hope you fall in love with the person more than the idea of love

“In the film, the economic gap between two people becomes clearest in the moments of greatest intimacy. When the Parks first hire Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) as an English tutor for their daughter, he is welcomed into her bedroom. As a maid, Ki-woo’s mother, Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), is allowed within earshot of the family’s quarrels and gossip. The rich outsource their most basic needs to the poor, who need the income, and the tight connections created by this exchange tend to be self-reinforcing.

[…] There is a Korean phrase that is commonly used to police people who act above their station: niga mwonde? Though the most faithful English translation is “Who do you think you are?” the sentence literally means “What are you?” South Korea is not the only country in which the rich and poor continue to live in close quarters, even as the disparities between them widen. The danger in such a system, Bong’s film suggests, is that one day people may find it easier to discount the humanity of fellow citizens than to address the unfair divisions in their heavily stratified society.”