05Grice's maximsInterpretiveSample on Parasite (2019)
Dialogue Autopsy
Example analysis of Parasite (2019), screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won. Shown for demonstration and commentary. It reads a finished film to show the format, so anything it flags may well be deliberate; on your own draft, treat each flag as a question.
Also on: Nope (2022)
Strong subtext that deepens as the script goes on
- Subtext
- Strong
- How much of the meaning is left implied.
- On the nose
- About one line in three
- Lines that say exactly what they mean. Fewer is better.
How to read this
The line follows how much each scene leaves unsaid: high where characters talk around what they mean, low where they state it outright. Hover a point to see how many of that scene's exchanges are on the nose.
The ticks under the line mark the scenes of the flagged lines quoted in the next section. A tick says where a flagged line comes from, not how much subtext the whole scene has.
A shaded stretch is the range of scenes chosen elsewhere in the report.
The scenes of the five flagged lines quoted below: 14, 21, 53, 69 and 155.
Class lives in the subtext. Talk about smell and basements carries the theme, and nobody names class politics until Chung-Sook's "kind because rich" outburst.
Ki-Tek's voice is a slow burn. His "no plan" monologue in scene 109 turns his Act One optimism inside out, and the murder is set up by small humiliations alone. Sc. 109
The 'Belt of Trust' sequence hides manipulation under polite small talk and rambling. Ki-Tek's 'companionship' monologue passes for real feeling.
Ki-Jung keeps her forged identity up with icy minimalism. Her deflections to the Parks never over-explain the backstory, and the gap between what we know and what she performs is where the tension comes from.
Five lines say too much, two each from Ki-Woo and Yon-Kyo
- Sc. 14
Exposition dump: Yon-Kyo gives an armchair diagnosis of Da-Song outright, and the audience is left nothing to discover.
YON-KYOHe has trouble focusing. ADHD. We signed him up for the Cub Scouts hoping the discipline would help, but he's become an even bigger weirdo. Now he's obsessed with Indians--
- Sc. 21
On-the-nose manipulation: the fake psychoanalysis explains out loud what the drawing already shows.
KI-JUNGDid something happen to Da-Song when he was in first grade? This lower section is what's called the 'schizophrenia zone' in psychology. It contains clues about the mental state of the child.
- Sc. 53
Motivation broadcast. Yon-Kyo spells out her whole plan to the person who engineered it, and the dramatic irony goes flat.
YON-KYOI'm not even going to mention the tuberculosis to Mun-Kwang. I'll come up with a completely unrelated reason. Let her go quietly.
- Sc. 69
Overly literal social commentary that makes explicit what the audience already understands from the family's situation.
KI-WOOIf you think about it, nowadays people barely see their in-laws anyway. How many times do you think families see each other after their kids get married?
- Sc. 155
Theme announcement in voice-over. It spells out the whole deferred dream, which leaves the bittersweet telescope image little to do.
KI-WOOI'm going to make a lot of money. First I'll need to go to college. Then I'll get a job and get married. But ultimately, I want to get rich.
Across the script, the kinds that recur most are emotional declarations, motivation statements, exposition dumps and theme announcements.
For the next draft
- In the tutoring interview Yon-Kyo spells out Da-Song's diagnosis and her own reading of it, while Da-Hae's silent reaction already carries the scene and the audience is about to meet Da-Song anyway. If she could keep only one of those lines, which would it be?
- Ki-Woo's voice-over in Act Three (scenes 132–158) sometimes repeats what the images have just shown; in scene 155 it spells out the whole deferred dream and leaves the telescope image little to do. Where the two say the same thing, which would you cut?
- During the pep talk, Ki-Woo grabs Da-Hae's wrist and then tells her 'I'm here to help you score', so gesture and line run the same con twice. What does the line add that the wrist grab has not already shown?
Five voices, no two alike
With the names covered, a reader could still tell each of these voices apart. Ki-Tek, Chung-Sook and Ki-Jung leave the most unsaid; Ki-Woo and Yon-Kyo say more outright.
Simple vocabulary; rambling, folksy, occasionally philosophical.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying What's the plan? / I have a plan. / Don't cross the line.
- Occasional preachy monologues reveal theme directly.
- Emotional register shifts too abruptly from passive to violent in Act Three.
KI-TEKSon, if one seeks Wi-Fi-- One must reach into the heavens. Up.
Simple vocabulary; clipped, blunt, sarcastic.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying You get it? / Shut up
- Occasional on-the-nose social commentary in Act Three.
- Sarcasm sometimes spells out the subtext too clearly.
CHUNG-SOOKNot 'also kindhearted.' She's kindhearted because she's rich. You get it?
Moderate vocabulary; confident, persuasive, smooth.
- Subtext
- Moderate
Keeps saying What's the plan? / Metaphorical. / Symbolic.
- Voice-over monologues in Act Three become overly explanatory.
- Tone in early scenes is slightly generic 'earnest son'.
KI-WOOI don't consider this a crime. No. Because I plan on going to this school next year.
Moderate vocabulary; staccato, cold, deadpan.
- Subtext
- Strong
Keeps saying Shut up
- Cold demeanour occasionally spelled out by parentheticals rather than dialogue.
KI-JUNGThe smell won't go away unless we leave this place.
Simple vocabulary; rambling, breathless, ditsy.
- Subtext
- Moderate
Keeps saying I don't care about papers. / You know what I mean? / So simple.
- Naivety is spelled out explicitly in dialogue.
- Some lines function as exposition delivery for the Parks' backstory.
YON-KYOExcuse my bluntness, but I just don't see the point of hiring someone unless he's as utterly outstanding as Min-Hyuk, you know?
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