The Host
Director: Bong Joon-ho (2006)
Awards: Best Film at Asian Film Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards
Never judge a book by it's cover. Many people may feel that The Host may just be a brainless monster horror movie that appeared in the Han River. This film addresses many social issues that is apparent in South Korea and the world. It is definitely not a typical horror movie where the monster is carefully designed to have special alienated abilities nor will it be kept in suspense until it is revealed in the middle of the movie.
In the first scene, it shows an American scientist asking his Korean assistant to pour away all of the formaldehyde into the sink because the bottles were dusty. Knowing that the toxic chemical will reach the Han River, where many Koreans go to as a place of relaxation and recreation activities, the American scientist had ignored his assistant's concern and showed that he didn't care. This portrays the wastefulness of mankind (stereotypically, Americans) and their disregard of the natural environment. I felt that the filmmaker is trying to tell us that for every action there are consequences, and more often than not, we make decisions so hastily that we have never considered them at all.
Bong may have chose this film to criticize how nation's government have forged lies to the people. They have also resort to underhand methods to reach their goal, some sacrifices have to be made. The fact that there was no virus contracted from the river monster and yet the military and government officials insisted on doing extreme medical tests on the protagonist was unbearable to me. He had missed his chance to save his only daughter because of their ignorance. Bong also wanted to show that people with power and authority would betray, cheat and lie for money.
Bong also used a good mix of irony and humour in this film. In the protagonist point of view, they may be devastated upon the news of their family member's death. But in the audience's point of view, they look clumsy and we do laugh at their clumsiness even though no jokes were told. In the operation room scene, we can see the desperation of the protagonist to save his daughter although he cannot do anything about it. Everyone would ignore him thinking that he is mentally unsound. I could feel his vent of frustration when Bong used a long shot on his facial expression during this scene. The protagonist could change his tone and attitude towards the nurses who were going to extract his brain cell. At first he was pleading with them and the next moment he was scolding them, it shows how frustrated he is in trying to save his daughter.
Overall, I felt that it was a good film as it is very evident that the issues addressed in it is apparent in many societies in the world. The impact of the American military and mindset may be poisonous to many communities. I realised that although these social problems were addressed, it may still be inevitable in a world that we live in now.
[1] http://www.greencine.com/central/node/102
[2] http://www.hostmovie.com/press/KoreanFilm.html
[3] http://www.papermag.com/arts_and_style/2007/01/toxic-avenger.php
[4] http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/350881/The-Host/overview
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