Gwoemul/The Host (2006)

Director: Joon-ho Bong
Writers: Joon-ho Bong, Chul-hyun Baek
Actors: Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon

Rating: 3 Black Sheep

What can I say, I love Asian cinema! For some reason plot lines and character treatments that would never be accepted in American film, as perfectly welcome in Asian movies, and for this I am grateful. My favorite Japanese director, Takashi Miike is a perfect example of this, and in The Host, South Korean director Joon-ho Bong does not disappoint.

The basic gist of this film is that an American military morgue director orders his assistant to pour hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down the down and subsequently, into the Han River. Shockingly, this has negative consequences as a mutated water beast appears months later to exact terror upon the city. The story centers around a misfit family comprised of a grandfather, his three adult children, each with their own flaws, and his granddaughter. Shortly after the start of the film, the giant water monster snatches the granddaughter and the rest of the screen time is devoted to the misfit clan trying to get her back.

This movie is nothing but entertaining. There is quite a bit of comedy mixed in with the big action, gross-out effects, and substantial drama and even the recognizably CGI monster is semi-realistic enough to keep the viewer involved in the story. There are some questionable elements like why the military doesn't just come out and start shooting their big guns at the monster which is certainly not invincible, and why the main characters can't just coherently explain to the authorities what has happened to their youngest family member. There's also a strange subtext going on that seems to blame the U.S. government for not only the mutation-causing pollution but also for the ill-advised "solution" that seems to do more harm than good and also appears to have some hidden agenda that goes unexplained. At the same time, the Korean government doesn't come out looking much better and leaves the viewer to wonder what exactly the message of the film is.

So if you are into ridiculous over-the-top Asian monster films that don't entirely make sense, this is the movie for you! (It certainly was for me!) It is no Citizen Kane but the characters are colorful, the cinematography is pretty cool, and there are even some tasty hidden touches that take at least a second viewing to discover.

Note: Be sure to watch The Host in Korean with English subtitles. The copy I have automatically plays it dubbed in English and I am a firm opponent of dubbing. It covers up the original sound track created to go with the film and I feel that this ruins the experience as it was intended by everyone who worked to bring it to you. Also, in all likelihood the budget for voice actors was smaller than for the actual screen actors so you will certainly suffer from deficient acting, or at least lower quality acting than the original actors. The one exception to this is certain Italian films because the Italian film industry has a long tradition of dubbing their films and often Italian movies are shot with no intention to even use the original audio, this is especially true for Italian horror. I've seen Italian movies where the original dialog was filmed in multiple languages because dubbing would automatically take place later. Just be sure to check if the original audio track is available before succumbing to a dubbed film.