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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 This film is rated: R The Host Rating:  
E-MAIL FRANK OCHIENG 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. Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts. Frank Ochieng © TheWorldJournal.com |
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