The Host (2006)
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Hee-Bong Byun, Hae-il Park
Runtime: 120 minutes
Synopsis: A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Performances: 4/5
Screenplay: 3/5
Special Effects: 2/5
Costumes/Makeup: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Cinematography: 5/5
Score/Soundtrack: 4/5
Verdict: Joon-ho Bong is a master filmmaker. That's just a fact. With films such as "Memories of Murder", "Mother" or "Snowpiercer", he has cemented his name among the most prolific directors of our times.
"The Host" was his third directorial feature and first attempt at a monster movie (debatably followed by "Okja"). And yes, I suppose that the film is technically a horror flick as it does contain a mutant monsters who goes on a murderous rampage. But it's also not that at all. The monster is merely a reason for Bong to tell the very emotional and touching story of a family directly affected by the monster's attack and government's inability to handle the situation. And it's the journey that these well-developed three-dimensional characters go through that constitutes the meat of the movie. Bong, through his writing, masterful camera work (cinematographer Hyung-ku Kim does wonders with his weapon of choice), and amazing score (by famous Korean composer Byung-woo Lee), blended heart and tension beautifully and in a very effective way.
Now "The Host" is definitely one of the better monster movies out there, but not quite my favorite Bong film. The reason behind it being that despite the fact that it tells a very grounded story, it does at time lose focus and bombard us with conveniences, cheese, or logical plotholes. The CGI used to give life to the monster naturally didn't age very well, too. I'd be lying if I said that these moments didn't take me out of the narrative on more than a few occasions.
Regardless, "The Host" remains a very moving drama. It's a tragedy that no Korean film has ever been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language category, but he might be the one to break the curse this year with "Parasite", which I'm very much looking forward to seeing.
"The Host" was his third directorial feature and first attempt at a monster movie (debatably followed by "Okja"). And yes, I suppose that the film is technically a horror flick as it does contain a mutant monsters who goes on a murderous rampage. But it's also not that at all. The monster is merely a reason for Bong to tell the very emotional and touching story of a family directly affected by the monster's attack and government's inability to handle the situation. And it's the journey that these well-developed three-dimensional characters go through that constitutes the meat of the movie. Bong, through his writing, masterful camera work (cinematographer Hyung-ku Kim does wonders with his weapon of choice), and amazing score (by famous Korean composer Byung-woo Lee), blended heart and tension beautifully and in a very effective way.
Now "The Host" is definitely one of the better monster movies out there, but not quite my favorite Bong film. The reason behind it being that despite the fact that it tells a very grounded story, it does at time lose focus and bombard us with conveniences, cheese, or logical plotholes. The CGI used to give life to the monster naturally didn't age very well, too. I'd be lying if I said that these moments didn't take me out of the narrative on more than a few occasions.
Regardless, "The Host" remains a very moving drama. It's a tragedy that no Korean film has ever been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language category, but he might be the one to break the curse this year with "Parasite", which I'm very much looking forward to seeing.
FINAL GRADE: 7/10
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