After being the first foreign-language film to take home Best Picture at the Oscars, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite is being re-released in black and white.
The new version of Parasite premiered at Rotterdam’s International Film Festival back in January and will now officially be released in the UK on July 24 on the Curzon Home Cinema streaming service. It will also have a limited cinema release.
For anyone who has been living under a rock for the past 6 months and has yet to watch the masterpiece, the film recounts the story of the Kims, a poor family, as they infiltrate a wealthier household belonging to the Park family. It’s a narrative of greed and class discrimination. Since taking home multiple awards at the Oscars, there have been talks of an HBO spin-off series and now the film has received a new monochromatic edition. The only difference the new version will have is its distinct lack of colour.
Parasite isn’t the first to receive a colourless edition. Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan both received versions offering altered colour palettes after their release. Fans of Parasite are expecting an almost new cinematic experience as one of the film’s most memorable elements was its use of bright colours to add to the story. The new colourisation thus may allow viewers to focus more on the characterisation and intimate experience with the Kim family.
In an interview, Bong Joon-Ho revealed that part of the decision behind the black and white version was to make his film feel like an old classic. He said: “I think it may be vanity on my part, but when I think of the classics, they’re all in black and white. So I had this idea that if I turned my films into black and white then they’d become classics.” The new colourisation thus has hopes of making Parasite feel timeless.
The director continued with “I have watched the black and white version twice now, and at times the film felt more like a fable and gave me the strange sense that I was watching a story from old times. The second time I watched it, the film felt more realistic and sharp as if I was being cut by a blade. It also further highlighted the actors’ performances and seemed to revolve more around the characters.”
Parasite is a rare film that gets better the more times you watch it, so this new edition is just a further excuse to re-watch the film once more. There is also a new, 30-second trailer, available on YouTube to entice you further, letting UK viewers know what to expect on July 24.
Words by Lucy Lillystone