The Host

Bong Joon-Ho
2006

Spring is here, bringing rebirth, renewal, hormonal overdrives, and the bountiful growth we've come to expect from the season. Something is growing bountifully indeed in Korea's Han river, but its not due to sunshine and fresh air; this little mutant 's the product of gallons of toxic formaldehyde sent down the drain at the behest of an anal american mortician. The Host, named for the killer virus our beastly star is potentially carrying, is by no means a reinvention of the monster flick but is instead a wildly entertaining return to form.

At the heart of the story is a hopelessly dysfunctional, yet limitlessly endearing family, running a prepackaged-ramen kiosk on the river's concrete banks. Dad offers daughter a beer while watching Auntie choke at her archery competition, meanwhile uncle stumbles back to the stand after a hard morning's shochu binge, as bumbling Gramps tries to placate customers. Its a snappy setup that segues right into the big guy's entrance. Out of the river and onto terra-firma springs a rampaging multi-mandibled, dino-amphibioid bruiser who tears up the scenery before returning to the drink, with little Hyun-Seo in tow. The CGI effects aren't the best you've ever seen, nor are they particularly consistent, but they're adequate considering the ballsiness of shooting a decent sized CG monster running around in broad daylight. Traditionally you get a lot more wiggle room when the visual effects are done in low and dramatic light situations.

The geopolitical satire a la Romero kicks in as the survivors of the fracas are corralled into an emergency center, and ultimately an Orwellian medical facility, by government guys in banana-yellow hazmat suits (more than a little reminiscent of The Crazies). As the U.S. intervenes in "the incident" they become a good go-to bully oppressor. There's more than a little anti-American sentiment here, and the resentment is palpable in the depiction off a handfull of duplicitous, pasty officials talking down and muscling their hapless Korean victims. It doesn't help that the formaldehyde premise is taken from an actual mishap in 2000.

The picture benefits from an adventurous score that heightens the action and prods the film along like a cattle drive. When the film hits its most somber moments the spirited music drives the family on to right the wrongs, and to "look out for ours." The camerawork is superb too, with the most graceful tracking shots I've seen in years, and a surprisingly novel use of that perpetual action cliche, slow motion. The film's humor and shifting tone are its greatest assets. Though this is the first of Bong's films I've seen, I'm willing to wager this vein of spot-on comedy is a hallmark of his direction. Bouts of hilarity mesh with deft action setpieces, and disastrous tragedy to provide a gripping final product. The family remains charmingly goofy throughout the ordeal, but is put through a wringer of hardships so severe that their perseverance makes them lovable. While the film's plotting is the stuff of madcap fantasy there's an emotional verism to these characters, and an appeal sent directly to the fragile fuck-up narcoleptically nodding off in ourselves.