The Host

[modage]

SYNOPSIS: In this creature-feature from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, a young girl is snatched from her father by a giant monster that has emerged from the River Han to wreak havoc on Seoul. As the rest of the city runs in fear, the girl's family sets out to find her.



TRAILER HERE: http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=2076001

this has had some pretty great reviews on geek sites and i'm really kicking myself now for not seeing it at the NYFF like i had thought about. 

[Ghostboy]

I saw it, and I seem to be the only person who really didn't like it at all. I was so excited about it, but when I was watching it I couldn't believe I was watching the same movie that everyone else had been raving about. I thought it was stupid, and mildly annoying.

[Pubrick]

looks pretty awesome. can't wait to be disappointed.

[bonanzataz]

gb, what's not to like about the film? it's funny, the characters are likeable, and there's decent action. not the best movie ever, you shouldn't rush to the theater to see it, but if it's a rainy day and you're looking for something cool to see, this is your best bet. i liked it a lot. saw it at the nyff and enjoyed it more than inland empire, but y'all might know how i feel about that one.

[Ghostboy]

The only thing I liked about it was that it was funny. The gratuitously slapstick scenes (which, for the most part, are all in the trailer) are great, and if the whole movie had continued that way, it would have been fun. But I didn't like the action, or the monster, and since that's what most of the film consists of, I got pretty bored. But what I really hated was the political subtext, which was so painfully overt that I almost blushed in embarassment. And it had no bearing on the plot whatsoever! The whole virus subplot, which started out promisingly enough, went downhill with alarming speed, before slamming headlong into a brick wall of bad screenwriting.

I'm convinced that the only way to enjoy this movie is at midnight in a packed house full of people unwilling to be let down. I watched it at home on DVD. Go figure.

I will say, though, that for a nine million dollar budget, this looks pretty spectacular.

[cron]

i'm also dissapointed with it, i thought it was going to be an ecological metaphor or a more serious, political affair, but nah-ah. social commentary is very mild and, like gb pointed out, embarassing. you gotta trust the uk blurb, though,  it's hugely entertaining. i liked the mythic aspect of it, the quasi-estranged family set to rescue the girl and kill the monster. it also has very beautiful sequences, and i'm so glad they didn't went for the 'toxic monster with the heart of gold' route.

[MacGuffin]

Many critics and fans are calling the Korean horror movie, The Host, the greatest monster movie ever made. That's not just hyperbole, The Host is fast, fun but still manages to sneak in some very astute social commentary on the side of both the Korean and US governments. The plot is simple, a creature was created due to a US military pathologist [played by Scott Wilson] pouring dozens of bottles of chemicals into a Korea based US military base sink, where they are then washed into the Han River. The creature smashes and attacks people in the small city until it captures a young girl and boy. The father of the young girl believes her to be dead and a memorial service is held. But the girl has managed to take a cellphone with her and places a call which ignites her family to her aid. I got a chance to talk with burgeoning Korean horror director Joon-ho Bong.

Daniel Robert Epstein: What made you want to show the monster within the first five minutes of the movie?

Joon-ho Bong: Three reasons. First is that I really hate when we see a typical monster movie and we have to wait almost one hour to see just the tail of the creature. So I really hoped to show my creature really early. The second is the feeling of a real disaster. For example, in a car accident people can never prepare. It's so sudden and so quick because people cannot prepare for that sudden accident or happening. So in this first attack sequence, I wanted to recreate as close as possible the actual feeling when people are hit with a sudden disaster or accident. The third reason is that the narrative dictated it. There are so many things that happen after the creature appears that I needed it to appear early, so then I could have the story of the virus, the story about the family, the kidnapping and things like that.

DRE:Of course there are thousands of horrible instances where people are killed and then there's a memorial where people go to pay their respects. But in America it is hard to ignore the parallels that that memorial scene has with the memorials after 9/11. Were you thinking of something specific when it came to that scene?

Bong:Yes. During the 90's and 2000 in Korea there were a couple of really large scale disasters. Almost unbelievable like a department store suddenly collapsing, crumbling and killing 500 people and in the city of Taegu there was a subway fire which killed 300 people. Whenever things like that happened there was this huge big funeral memorial like in the film. It's a Korean reality. I portrayed it very real, as it would be at these places. There's another part because even though it is sad, there are elements of humor in there which I think are true. You're trying to really focus on being sad, but then you hear someone say, "Ok. Can you please pull out your car, please?" Those things do actually happen.

DRE:I love that Scott Wilson has a great role in this film, what made you think of him?

Bong:I saw his supporting role in Monster [directed by Patty Jenkins]. He was a very good victim in the movie. Also in the 1960's and 70's he did many wonderful main roles, In Cold Blood. I also have the DVDs of his movies, The Grissom Gang and The Year of the Quiet Sun. It was my honor to work with him. I sent him just the script and my previous movie, Memories of Murder and he just accepted the role. It was quite an easy choice.

DRE:Was there any communication barrier with dealing with people like Scott or Paul Lazar?

Bong:Those two actors and also a lot of the computer effects artists, are from Australia, New Zealand and [the FX company] The Orphanage in San Francisco. There was no problem because I always had a translator. But I think it's easier to speak within a work environment or a work context. You have the work so it's easier to communicate. When I was working with the artists at The Orphanage we used the internet a lot and satellite phones. The only difficulty problem was the difference in time.

DRE:There are hundreds of movies where the American government does something wrong and there's a monster unleashed on the American people. Even though what creates the monster is based on a real incident, what made you want to make the Americans the ones to put the blame on?

Bong:The actual case is where I got the inspiration. Since I used that case literally, it just ran onto a line of American satire. If you look closely, there's social commentary, political commentary, regarding the Korean government. On the other hand, it is a tradition of the monster genre to have such commentary. If you look at the sci-fi films of the 40's and 50's, you might be like, "Okay. The alien here is representing or symbolizing the Soviet Union." Maybe years from now, somebody might look back at The Host and be like, "Ok. The monster of the time is America." But it's just too simple of an explanation to go with now.

DRE:If The Host was made in America the ending of the film would be very different. But I know that in Korea the idea of sacrifice is very important. Was that what played into your mind in terms of the ending for this film?

Bong:Usually when I'm asked that question I say that the death is not just a simple death. It's a sacrifice. Since you've already asked, I'm very grateful that you've already hit it on the nose. The structure of the storyline is very simple. The whole family is out there trying to save Hyun-seo. But simultaneously, back in the dark sewer, she's actually trying to save someone even weaker than herself, the little boy. So even though the country and the state and society have turned their backs on them, the weak are striving to go ahead and to save someone weaker than themselves. That ties directly with the central theme of the story of the film.

DRE:What made you decide on a smaller creature, rather than something massive?

Bong:I think that the bigger the creature, the less reality it had. Also, if it got big, it would be destroying more things, like buildings and stomping on cars. At the size that it is it can hide behind cars and other things. To have the creature be seen and then unseen does increase the suspense.

DRE:I read that the scene where Nam-il kicks Gang-Du at the funeral was improvised. Is that true?

Bong:No, it was all scripted ahead of time.

DRE:Do you like the actors to try improvisation in your films?

Bong:It depends on the actor and as long as it doesn't destroy the performance or the moment. There are those actors, who through improv, give more of a realistic performance. For instance, Kang-ho Song is a great example. I urge him on like, "I'm going to give you the main point of this scene or this part" and then I try to get him to run with it to give it a different feel or whatever. But if the actors are younger, or there's some actors who want to be told every little thing, than I am quite manipulative in every aspect of their acting.

DRE:Sometimes when people make a horror film, they do have ideas that it will go beyond the horror audience. The Host is a film which has already done so well. Did you or your producers ever think that this is a film which could appeal to a broader audience than most Korean films?

Bong:When people hear about this film, they're going to be curious about the creature. It's just very simple and it might be juvenile, but people are going to wonder, "What's the creature going to look like? What's it going to do?" It's just an innate curiosity. Now this film also has details and particulars of Korean society. But despite that, I think if you look at the characters of the family, they are people you can find everywhere. I think you could find some universal sympathy from people all over the world.

DRE:Did you have to get everything approved by the Korean government?

Bong:In the mid-90s, with the fall of the military dictatorship, all of censorship was abolished. The government doesn't get involved or control or censor anything, with this film or with any other film in Korea. There's something called Korean Film Council which is a government run institution that helps out independent film and low-budget arthouse films. It's more of a support organization.

DRE:Have you been asked to direct an episode of Masters of Horror?

Bong:I haven't been asked, but if I were, it would be a great honor. I know a lot of great directors have been asked and have done episodes for that series, like Joe Dante.

[modage]

saw this tonite and i really liked it.  ghostboy i'm shocked you disliked it that much!  i'm not crazy in love with it but i thought it was a good fun time.  the political commentary could've been a little more subtle but in a movie about a rampaging monster i guess they just wanted to make sure it would still be heard.  it did look pretty damn good though. 

[pete]

I expected it to be as bad as cronopio and ghostboy, but instead, it was really good.  the story is a bit standard with the arcs and the acts, but a few twists coupled with great performances made it a really good movie.  the movie had a heart, had a little fun with the slapstick stuff, and got everyone cheering for the family at the end.  for me that meant it delivered.  it made the right choice in pursuing the family story, switching it up halfway through to take it more seriously, and I thought it really paid off in the end.  little miss sunshine met 28 days later here.
also, the political stuff--did I miss something?  what was this over-reaching political message in there?  I just thought they broadly made the g-men to be as incompetent and as paranoid as any other sci-fi movie ever made.

[Pubrick]

little miss sunshine met 28 days later here.

awesome. so overrated met underrated, meaning this is just.. rated. with two mediocre reviews and two good ones. that's what i'm expecting.

Thanks

[Sal]

I loved the humor in this.  It's the movie's saving grace, no doubt.  The story is really convoluted but it still managed to be entertaining.  There is a weird pacing problem with the movie, too. It's hard to tell how much time passes by between scenes.  Did anyone else notice this particular problem?

[Ghostboy]

also, the political stuff--did I miss something?  what was this over-reaching political message in there? 

There were some really bad allusions to the WMD in the whole American subplot (which really felt tacked on to me overall for the sole purpose of providing political subtext).

I still feel like I watched the wrong movie, beause everyone loves it so much. I've come to the conclusion that a.) I should have watched in a crowded theater instead of on DVD, b.) that maybe I just don't like South Korean films unless they're really depressing and slow, and c.) that I'm an asshole. The family in the movie (with the exception of the little girl) annoyed the hell out of me, in exactly the same way that Pubrick was annoyed by that woman in Children Of Men.

I won't say that it's just not my cup of tea, because I love monster movies. I love freakin' Deep Rising, for Christ's sake!

[pete]

SPOILERS

I did not get any allusions of the WMD, not even a little bit.  what was the parallel?  the monster was real and the yellow agent was real.  I didn't understand why the virus was fake and didn't get the point of that, but I dunno, it seemed like a Korean thing to have them protest violently in the streets and to react to their government's cooperation with the US with distrust--I mean, that's how they are in real life (remember the WTO?) and things.  I thought they had probably the same amount of political stuff as 28 days later, that is, nothing profound, just enough to keep the bad humans bad and to give it some kinda sundance chic.  I never thought it went beyond simple plot exposition, and was real real baffled by the numerous claims on this here board, which is especially surprising when FUCKING CRONOPIO said it.  answer me!  unpuzzle me!  please.
I mean, while I don't love the movie undyingly, but I am real realy baffled by these criticisms that just seemed wholly unfounded--I could understand the family being annoying, or the s f/x looking fake, or the contrived arcs and acts wrapped in the aforementioned sundance chic (which has been the direction of recent Korean movies--big commercial blockbusters that play well with the foreign crowd).

[MacGuffin]

Universal To Remake The Host
Source: SciFi Wire

Bong Joon-ho, director of the Korean-language monster movie The Host, told SCI FI Wire that Universal Studios will remake the film for American audiences and that he hopes they do the original film justice. The studio has purchased the rights to The Host, which centers on a dysfunctional family that must overcome its differences to save its daughter, who's been grabbed by a creature that an unresponsive government declares is the host of an unidentified virus. The film, which was a huge hit in Korea and Asia, opened March 9 in limited release in North America and made $314,488 on 71 screens, a healthy per-screen average of $4,429, the BoxOfficeMojo.com Web site reported.

"Maybe three or four years down the line, if The Host [remake] comes out, and there's a cool director who takes it on and makes it a real great film, then I'd be very happy," Bong said in an interview, through a translator. "On the other hand, if it's just crap, I think I'd be happy, too, because then people would be like, 'Oh, yeah, Bong's original was really good.' So, for me, it's a win-win situation. But Universal has a tradition of doing horror and creature films, so I anticipate that they will do a great film."

Bong has said that his next film will be a Korean production of a more intimate, non-genre nature, but the film after that likely will be a big-screen adaptation of the French SF comic book La Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. The story follows the last remnants of mankind, who, following a second ice age, live aboard a train.

"It's about the struggles and fights that go on even in such a critical state," Bong said. "There's the tension. There's the fighting, and that appeals to me also. Outside, it's like ice, but inside it's bubbling over, all these human emotions and whatnot. The contrast there is interesting. I want to keep the tension going. And I think everyone feels the charm of a train."

[grand theft sparrow]

Why did dubbing go out of style?