NEON is thrilled to present the black and white version of PARASITE to audiences on both coasts. The film will debut at the International Film Festival Rotterdam at the end of January. It had been the life-long dream of Director Bong Joon Ho’s to create a film in the black & white format.
The black and white version of PARASITE was created prior to the film’s premiere in Cannes. It will debut in Los Angeles by the American Cinematheque, where it will screen at the Egyptian Theater on Friday, January 31. In NY, the alternate version will be presented by Film at Lincoln Center at the Walter Reade Theater on January 30th, and subsequently January 31st – February 6th at the Francesca Beale Theater.
Director Bong spoke on his inspiration, “Cinema was black and white in the very beginning. Black and white is the origin of cinema. Although I became a filmmaker in the 2000s, I idealize the beautiful black and white films by Renoir, Fellini, Kurosawa, John Ford, and the beautiful cinematography of Gregg Toland. Thankfully, it doesn’t require a huge budget to do so in this digital age, so the cinematographer re-filtered the entire film into black and white, meticulously adjusting the contrast and density for every shot with my help.”
He added, “I’m extremely happy to present PARASITE in black and white and have it play on the big screen. It will be fascinating to see how the viewing experience changes when an identical film is presented in black and white.”
“Parasite has had such a life at Film at Lincoln Center, beginning with the rapturous New York Film Festival premiere, the overwhelming success of our theatrical run, and two series contextualizing the film.” said FLC Director of Programming Dennis Lim. “We are honored to have another chance to extend its life in our theaters with this special black-and-white version.”
Since winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May, PARASITE has remained both a critical darling and a hit among audiences across the world. The film was the first Korean film and the first Korean director to be nominated for an Oscar. The film also gathered six Academy Award nominations. PARASITE also won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and was also nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay. Most recently, the film became the first foreign language film to ever win Outstanding Performance by a Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Theatrically, the film has amassed $148 million worldwide, including $28.5 million in the US.
