“Bong Joon Ho’s The Host is arguably one of the greatest monster movies ever made. Springboarding off a sinister satire of American imperialism, Bong proceeds to focus on the same sort of hilarious ragtag family dynamics that would win him an Oscar for Parasite. The social commentary turns surprisingly poignant as an indomitable prehistoric-like creature of nefarious origins becomes a popcorn-cinema metaphor for morality itself while rampaging among local beach-goers. Bong’s perennial everyman Song Kang-ho plays a beleaguered loser who, under the threat of true danger, transforms into an underdog hero. Iconic badass Bae Doona makes a star turn as his archery-champion sister who aims her David against the Goliath. The stomping and chomping mass destruction wreaked by the beast is only matched by the noble solidarity, strength, and indistinguishable hope of this maverick household who will never give up fighting for the greater good, no matter the odds.” —New York Asian Film Festival
Director’s Statement (2006):
“The Han River
The River has flown with us and around us.
A fearsome Creature makes a sudden appearance from the depths of this river, so familiar and
comfortable for us Seoulites.
The riverbanks are instantly plunged into a bloody chaos.
The film begins at the precise moment, in which a space familiar and intimate to us, is suddenly
transformed into the stage of an unthinkable disaster and tragedy.
The Family
Park Gang-du and his family have led ordinary, repetitive lives, never really extending beyond the confines of their small food stand on the banks of the Han River.
They are devastated by the emergence of the Creature.
Robbed of their peaceful daily routines, Gang-du and his family nonetheless throw themselves into a life-and-death struggle against the Creature.
The film shows how these exceedingly normal people, no different from our everyday neighbors, are transformed into monster-fighting warriors.
A Fight to the Death
The Creature is not the only adversary they have to fight.
For Gang-du and his family, impoverished, powerless “little people,” the whole world around them is revealed to be a true monster.
They have to fight against it tooth and nail.
In the end, the film is a record of their fight to the death against the indifferent, calculating and manipulative Monster known as the world.” —Director Bong Joon Ho
