The Host (Gwoemul)

Inspired by the US military’s dumping of lethal toxinsinto Korea’s Han River, director and writer Bong Joon-Ho takes the scenario an evolutionary stepfurther by introducing an unwelcome byproduct of pollution — a giant mutated monster that eats people.

Instead of the clichéd creature feature that one may expect, what we get is a wonderfully assured
narrative about the things that bring a dysfunctional family together and make uncommon heroes out of each of them. Think Little Miss Sunshine crossed with Tremors.

One sunny day on the banks of the Han River, the monster decides to surface and feed on unsuspecting Seoulites. In the ensuing rampage, it takes a young girl, Hyun-seo, into its underground lair. Hyun-seo is the youngest member of the Park family, made up of a loving grandfather, dimwitted single father, a resourceful uncle just out of university, and an aunt, who happens to be a champion archer.

With the ugliness of humanity thwarting them, the family members do the unimaginable in a rescue effort to bring their baby girl back home. The film takes the genre trappings of monster films and subverts them with doses of sadness, poignancy, and gallows humor, which often collide in the same scene with gripping immediacy.

The San Francisco-based visual effects company The Orphanage did an impeccable job of not only giving the creature the illusion of life, but also imbuing it with enough intelligence and menace that it constantly lurks on the outskirts of the frame and mind.

- Kevin Ang

The Host (Gwoemul)
Directors: Joon-oh Bong
119 minutes, Magnolia Pictures (US release)
www.thehost.co.kr
Opens 3/09/07 in the US