Wow. I’m impressed with your review. You articulated it perfectly.
Parasite is not the best representation of Korean filmmaking but the one that crossed the ‘mass appeal’ threshold for Western audiences.
Taiwan has had some greats in the 90s, Japan boasted of the legendary Kurosawa, and China has some classics too but not recently as current government censorship stifles a lot of its creative potential. (See “Raise the Red Lantern” by Zhang Yimou. Just epic and gorgeous. From 1991.)
Objectively speaking South Korea is on a roll in terms of cinema and pure craftsmanship. And not every movie is centered around class. There are sensibilities in Asian and all foreign filmmaking that lend certain films more depth than your average Hollywood fare. And just a refreshing alternative perspective on the world! I’ve appreciated what the Polish have put out as of late, but the movies tend to be too ‘Arthouse’ and so do not end up appealing to mainstream audiences especially outside the country.
So if Parasite’s win simply means it will make it that much easier for international films to build up more curiosity among contemporary filmgoers for material outside Hollywood, then it is a good thing.