Weekends are fun. Especially when you’ve come back from an exhausting, barely paying job and now you have two days to just let it go. Two days of pure serenity and more importantly, 8 hours of sleep with zero contemplation about life.
But if you are cinephile in India, this is the weekend you’ve been living for. Jojo Rabbit and Parasite, both of which are Oscar-nominated movies have released in India this weekend.
For the uninitiated, Jojo Rabbit is a film made by Taika Waititi of the Thor: Ragnarok fame.
And if even if you don’t like watching Marvel movies and this reference does nothing in particular for you, don’t worry, I only used that reference for the lowest common denominator. Waititi is known for his wacky style, for the lack of a better word and the reluctance to use offbeat, because he is not.
He is known for Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014).
Anyhow, speaking of Jojo Rabbit, Waititi also stars in the film as the imaginary friend to a kid during Nazi Germany.
He plays Hitler!
Now, before you start asking them questions, just watch the trailer here.
The film is a celebration of tolerance and humanity and at a time, when the world is more divided than it has been any given point in modern history, Jojo Rabbit is a necessity.
Speaking of necessary films, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is good as filmmaking gets. Again, for the uninitiated Bong-Joon-ho is known for movies like Snowpiercer, a gripping drama-thriller about the fallacies of the social order.
But Parasite might just be his best work yet. By the end of its two-hour journey, it would have taken pit stops at social satire, suspense, a bit of horror and slapstick, all the while continuing to be mature.
The story is best summarised by Washington Post, which lauds Joon-ho’s ability to ‘blend a con man story with a tale of suspense, to uproarious and enlightening effect’.
You can watch the trailer here:
I understand, this is a Korean movie and you might be a little apprehensive about watching it. But trust Bong Joon-ho, because once you get over that one-inch barrier of subtitles, there is a whole new world out there, you don’t know about.
So, you have almost half the Saturday and a complete Sunday to follow. Go to your nearest theatres and watch these gems. You’ll only be richer for it.
