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The Host [a.k.a “Gwoemul”]
(2006) Magnolia Pictures, 1 hr. 48 mins.
Starring:
Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Du-na, Ko A-sung, Yoon
Je-moon, Kim Roi-ha, Park No-syk, Scott Wilson, David Joseph Anselmo
Directed by:
Bong Joon-ho |
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There’s no doubt that filmmaker Bong
Joon-ho’s The Host is a wryly robust homage to the nostalgic Japanese
monster B-movies that gleefully invaded the cinema houses of yesteryear.
This Korean creepfest is a sly and devilishly colorful dramedy that is
exuberant in its observational impishness about everything from
family-oriented loyalties and eccentricities to ecological neglect. The
Host is a political peepshow featuring a cunning creature and the
community it terrorizes with comical chaos. Joon-ho serves up a
highly-spirited romp that lends its distinctive outrageousness to the
horror/suspense genre. Wickedly sardonic and fiercely fiendish in its
perky presentation, The Host is a smart and simmering creature feature
that crackles with percolating weirdness and wonderment.
Screenwriters Hah June-won and Baek Chul-hyun (along with
co-writer/director Joon-ho) hatches a dysfunctional examination of
familial foundations that touches boundaries beyond a satirical monster
mash movie. Cleverly, The Host is acidly humorous and explores
contemporary themes dealing with issues such as underlying anti-American
biases, global anxieties, viral-spread plagues (read: SARS) and man-made
societal irresponsibility. This is an audacious boofest that has a lot on
its wandering mind and Joon-ho (“Memories of Murder”) is instrumental in
conveying the film’s rotating roguish cynicism.
The “Host” refers to the gigantic, slimy-looking mutated lizard that was
formed through the U.S. Army’s random carelessness in dumping tons of
toxic waste into Korea’s Han River. The years passed on as the river-based
cretin grew into an enormous monstrosity. (Think “waterproof Godzilla”) At
first the locals were oblivious to the noticeable ripples in the water and
everyday business went on as usual. It got to the ridiculous point where
the hideously giant water-logged weasel was relaxing and soaking up some
sunshine under the bridge. Comically, the passers-by thought of the
leisurely Host as a casual photo op before awakening the creature’s ire.
Soon, there would be hell to pay as the unpredictable monster’s wrath is
put to the test by the rudeness of its human observers.
Single father Gang-Du Park (Song Kang-ho) is working at the family-owned
food stand where he notices the sudden commotion along the banks of the
Hans River. Apparently an incredibly oversized amphibious creature has
been going bananas and swiping at the frantic crowd left and right.
Gang-Du and his young daughter Hyun-Seo (Ko A-sung) join the excitable
hoards of frightened witnesses in trying to evade the ghastly clutches of
the Host’s hostility. Unfortunately, Hyun-Seo is captured by the large
lizard-like menace’s tail and is dragged into the Hans River along with
some other victims. Now Gang-Du, his father (Byun Hee-bong), his brother
(Park Hae-il) and sister (Bae Du-na) have to put their differences aside
and plan on rescuing the pre-teen Hyun-Seo before she becomes an immediate
afternoon snack for the gluttonous Host.
In the meanwhile, Hyun-Seo must be a resilient schoolgirl and maintain
some focus in order to escape the Host’s underwater liar. She tries
valiantly to get away but nothing materializes with her intent to grasp
freedom. Will Hyun-Seo be able to match wits with her beastly kidnapper?
Can dimwitted Gang-Du and his wacky bunch get to the imprisoned Hyun-Seo
before the governmental quarantine is applied so rigorously? Will
Hyun-Seo’s band of kooky blood ties resolve their bickering and off-kilter
personalities as the Host’s destruction brings them together in the name
of poor Hyun-Seo’s welfare?
Craftily, The Host plays like a hybrid between a Korean copycat Little
Miss Sunshine crossed with Godzilla. Sharply executed and insightful, The
Host manages to lend some forethought into the bewildering psyche of
moviemaker Joon-ho’s Korean countryside conflicts by attaching this
entertaining notion through the wily antics of a rampaging river-roaming
reptile. The film’s playful edginess is thoroughly realized through frothy
characterizations, a throwback to the absurdity and innocence of cheesy
scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs horror showcases and the political
undercurrent of recklessness and resentment in human indifference.
As a Far East sci-fi actioner, The Host is above heads-and-tails as a
wincing entry that resourcefully combines laughs, skin-crawling
jitteriness, technological trysts and militaristic intrigue and arrogance
in a favorable frightfest that hits its creative mark with drollness and a
sure fire slap of hearty disdain. |
