We went to see The Host (Gwoemul) by Korean director Bong Joon-ho when it was out in theatres back in March, and now it's out on DVD. If you haven't heard about it, it's a monster movie from South Korea that has gotten fairly wide distribution in the US. I was delighted and a bit surprised to see a movie in Korean at our local multiplex. Although the actors in the trailer are speaking English, the movie is mostly in Korean with subtitles. I'm not sure if the DVD will offer a dubbed version, but I plan to buy a copy to see how it differs from the screen version.
When I first heard about it, I thought it would be like those awful Godzilla movies that my husband and son love to torture me with on Saturday nights. Is it just me, or do other people have children who like to sing "mo-su-ra, mo-su-ra" in an attempt to summon a giant moth to save Tokyo?
Anyway, the premise of The Host is based on a real-life incident in which a US Army official forced an underling to dump toxic chemicals into a drain leading to the Han River. In the movie version, the chemicals lead to a mutant creature that grows to epic proportions, and surfaces one sunny day to terrorize people hanging out in the park beside the river. This leads to a campaign of government "misinformation" to try to downplay the monster's existence and threat.
The central characters in the film are a family who own a snack kiosk by the river. When the youngest member of the family is carried off by the monster, the otherwise dysfunctional Park clan rallies to find her. Her father is the narcoleptic, slightly off-kilter Gang Du, who suffers at the hands of the US military and Korean government officials who want to keep the incident under wraps, and don't believe that his daughter is alive. The heart and soul of the movie is the grandfather, a man who adores his granddaughter and works hard at his little business to keep his family afloat. Along for the ride are Gang Du's sister, an archery champion who chokes in the clutch, and his brother, a former student radical who can't find a job. The victim, Hyun-seo, is a spunky middle-schooler held captive by monster. At times hilarious, and in the next minute poignant, the family shows that despite individual shortcomings, when they band together, they can be resourceful and strong.
I don't recommend it for children, so watch it after the kids are in bed. There are some graphic, violent scenes of people being eaten, human remains, and the monster itself is terrifying. The monster looks like a cross between a Jurassic Park refugee and the plant from Little Shop of Horrors, and will certainly give small fry nightmares well into adolescence. The monster effects were artfully created by a San Francisco firm, and the monster is a slithery, creepy, horrifying nightmare. He's no guy in a rubber suit like Godzilla, and is in a class all his own.
Gory creature feature, family drama, offbeat comedy, action, suspense, political satire -- this movie has all of these and more. I have to admit, I cried a few times during this movie, and I was not expecting to do that in a monster movie. This film is the largest grossing film in South Korean history, and for good reason. I hope that American audiences will get over the subtitles and go out to see the film as well. I'd be curious to see a sequel. The Host vs. Mothra, perhaps?
I received a free review copy of a DVD called Maya & Miguel: Cinco de Maya
