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Review #422 of 365
Movie Review of The Host (2007) [R] 119 minutes
Title in Korean: Gwoemul
WIP™ Scale: $13.25
Where Viewed: Landmark Mayan, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 12 March 2007
Time: 7:15 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Joon-ho Bong (Namgeuk-ilgi)
Written by: Chul-hyun Baek, Joon-ho Bong (Namgeuk-ilgi), and Won-jun Ha (Geunyeoreul moreumyeon gancheob)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Kang-ho Song (Chinjeolhan geumjassi) • Hie-bong Byeon (Kong Pil-du) • Hae-il Park (Sonyeon, Cheonguk-e gada) • Du-na Bae () • Ah-sung Ko (debut)
Soundtrack: Download now from 
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Once again, I must advocate for USA filmgoers to step out of the cavernous confines (pardon the seemingly overstated oxymoron) of their big box center multiplexes and seek out the independent theatre in their area where they might be able to catch, perhaps for the first time in their lives a bona fide, South Korean monster movie known as The Host (Gwoemul in Korean). Some have described this film as ranking with some of the best horror monster films ever made, like Jaws. In seeing the previews, some have wondered if this is simply an upscale Godzilla movie made on the other side of the Sea of Japan. In reality, it is like neither. The film is tense, but not horrifying. It is scary not in an Aliens sense, though it does have some Aliens-like moments especially watching the creature move in graceful, dance-like motions. For one, this creature 'attacks' more like hunts for food, during the day. So, while it moves quickly, its appearance is not a mystery that haunts the entire film. This is a four-legged, long-tailed, amphibious creature with insect-like mouth parts that hunts and devours human beings for food and maybe sport. It all begins when, of course, a bureaucratic physician in a US Government lab orders his subordinate to dump hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down the drain over strenuous objections and exclamations that doing so will pollute the Han River. Five years later, one day after a lazy lunch in his father's snack shop and food stall used by people who come down to take in the sights of Seoul and sun along the Han River across from the city, Park Gang-Du (Song Kang-ho) is awakened by his father Hie-Bong (Byeon Hie-Bong) to make a delivery to a couple waiting on mat 4. Enroute, he must endure a scolding by his daughter Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-sung) for missing a school meeting and generally falling asleep all the time. As Gang-Du makes his delivery, grandfather and granddaughter watch Aunt Nam-Joo (Bae Du-na) attempt to win the national archery competition on television—she loses on a technicality of failing to launch her final arrow in the allotted time after just having made a perfect bullesye. But, Gang-Du's delivery is upstaged by the appearance of something dark and ominous in the water. A shadowy and ominous illusion witnessed by thousands over the years in Loch Ness, waits but a few tense minutes to prove quite real on the banks of the Han River. The thunderous creature larger than 5 elephants rampages onto the shore and begins snarffing about and looking spectacularly hungry. Curious onlookers are too frozen in fear by the spectacle to do the logical thing, turn and run. As the creature begins its assault on land, eventually the people begin to scatter in fear—something the creature seems not to exhibit itself. Using its size and speed it overwhelms the prey and munches here and there grazing on people as if we were a newly discovered food source much tastier than the fish in the river. Emerging from the snack shack to see what all the ruckus was about, Hyun-seo runs about and, unfortunately, right before her father's eyes is captured by the creature who then dives back into the river. Her frantic father can do nothing to save or rescue her. Fortunately, as all good South Korean children do, Hyun-seo, who is not eaten, but rather, kept in the creature's chambers deep in the sewer system of Seoul, Hyun-seo phones her family. She is alive, but she has no idea where she is. Enlisting the aid of Uncle Nam-il (Park, Hae-il), the foursome intend to find and rescue her. Of course, though, the government will get in the way. In what is probably the much more frightening part of the film, the South Korean government behaves no differently toward the incident than USAers might imagine our own government behaving. There was no creature. This must be an example of a virally-induced mass hysteria. Rather than seeking out the creature that is gulping up passersby at will, the area is quarantined, everyone is taken in and examined for the responsible pathogen, and the Park family, for violating the quarantine and causing trouble talking about the creature and trying to find this mysterious lost child, is put on the Korean Most Wanted List with a huge reward if brought in alive. Eventually, and this is the scariest part of all, to eradicate the virus, a mysterious device is brought in on loan from the US government to spray what is known as Agent Yellow, a cloudy dusty yellow concoction that is supposed to kill anything pathogenic in its path and destroy the virus before it can spread further throughout South Korea and eventually the world. Immediately, activists crop up against the use of the terrible and toxic chemical that kills all living things, supposedly, in their tracks. Viruses, of course, are not living things, so one can only wonder how this is supposed to stop that threat.
"…an incredibly realistic…creature…an amazingly enjoyable and entertaining film."
Using the special effects house of Peter Jackson's Weta Workshops animatronics from John Cox's creature Workshop, and CGI by San Francisco's The Orphanage, famous Korean director Bong Joon-ho spared no expense in creating an incredibly realistic feel to the creature, its emotions, and its interactions with the people and the sets. There is a sense of terror and dread, but it is not the same kind one feels in the dark and scary monster movies. Perhaps because there is an immediate understanding that this creature is at once a result of human contamination of the planet and doing what it naturally must do, seek food, rather than a malevolent being out to capture souls or what not. In any case, the film is heart pounding in places, especially with each new and clever attempt to locate and free Hyun-seo, if she is even still alive. A tense political thriller of its own kind as well with environmental implications as well as global crisis management issues, the film taps into the conspiracy theorists worst fears as well. Are our governments at all capable of handling such events were they to happen? Would the scientists prefer to stir up erroneous explanations, rather than attempting to solve the real problems? Doubts about all of these add to the inherent undercurrent of fear in the film. While there is so much in this film to see and learn about, in its present cut, which appears to be quite a bit trimmer than the original version, still at 119 minutes it could have been shaved down another 300 minutes and stuck to the more lively aspects of the story. This would have helped the pace and ended some of the downtime. There are some preachy speeches, especially by the Grandfather, about how everyone needs to be kinder to Gang-Du, that do not add that much to the film. Overall, however, the film is an amazingly enjoyable and entertaining film. It's very different than anything we've seen in the US in a long time, and anytime we get an opportunity to see films grown in other countries, new ideas and sights, it's a very good thing.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring The Host (2007)
Cast Members
Kang-ho Song
• Hie-bong Byeon • Hae-il ParkDu-na Bae
• Ah-sung KoDirector
Joon-ho Bong
Co-writers
Chul-hyun Baek
• Joon-ho Bong • Won-jun Ha| DVD | Gift Set | |
| Related DVD | Related Book |
The Host (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Step out of the cavernous confines of big-box center multiplexes and seek out an independent theatre playing the South Korean monster movie, The Host. Some say the film ranks alongside the best creature features ever made. Others have wondered if it's just an upscale Godzilla rival from the other side of the Sea of Japan. In reality, it's like neither--tense but not horrifying. It's about a creature, produced by a toxic poisoning of the Han River at the hands of US scientist, who captures a young girl and her family's subsequent desperate attempts to recover her from the sewers of Seoul where it hides. Using globally renowned, amazing special effects houses, famous Korean director Bong Joon-ho spared no expense in creating an incredibly realistic feel to the creature, its emotions, and its interactions with the people and the sets. Shaved by 30 minutes, the film would've been even better.
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