jürgen fauth’s muckworld

On second viewing, Bong Joon-ho’s upcoming monster smash hit is still a thrill, and it also reveals just how exquisitely crafted it is. The cinematography is outstanding, and the film is stuffed with oddball humor and details that resonate and multiply, giving the characters real life above and beyond the necessities of mutant fodder. There’s also a sly political sensibility at work — who has ever seen such an enthusiastic celebration of the molotov cocktail?

There’s talk about a Hollywood remake, but that’s just ridiculous. The Host is itself imported from any number of American horror films, overlaid with a peculiar South Korean auteur’s preoccupations. To remake it in this country would be as idiotic as remaking A bout de souffle (which, of course, they did.) What makes The Host so special is the way Bong quotes and twists genre cliches and adds a thousand small touches: a hero who has coins stuck to his face when we first meet him, lazy-eyed scientists, the moment’s wait before the ramen is cooked, van jokes that outdo anything in Little Miss Sunshine, an 11th-hour speech about the lack of protein, a disposable fisherman who worries about his daughter’s plastic cup, untrustworthy salarymen who fret about taxation on reward monies, the finale of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest replayed as farce, and a terrificly slippery, tentacled monster with an endless supply of surprise moves. The Host is full of specificity and character, but also satisfies (almost) all of our genre expectations. A hell of a lot of fun. Now scheduled to open on March 9. I have some footage from the NYFF press conference with Bong that I may finally put on YouTube….

Gwoemul. Bong Joon-ho, 2006. *****

• Previously on muckworld

Here’s the trailer, which doesn’t really do it justice:

Yes, yes, yes! Bong Joon-ho’s record-breaking monster movie strikes a perfect balance between broad social satire, oddball comedy, and honest-to-god horror thrills. Thanks to Americans who blithely pollute the Han river, an amphibious mutant creature with fearsome mandibles and a prehensile tail haunts the sewers of Seoul. The creature is designed by Weta, but the family that has to fight it–along with backstabbing salarymen and untrustworthy government agencies–is 100% Korean, a bunch of ramen-selling “losers” (Bong) who are prone to screwing up just when it matters most. In Bong’s hands, stock scenes, like the character-building moments of respite between monster attacks, turn into little gems of droll humor and genuine sadness. The plot doesn’t follow Hollywood conventions, and the biohazard setup allows all sorts of swipes at SARS and American hubris, including a few stabs at the Iraq war. It’s all shot beautifully, and some of Bong’s directorial flourishes made me want to pump my fist and shout “yeah!” Tentative release date is January 29, 2007.

The Host. Bong Joon-ho, 2006. ****

[tags]film, 4 stars, horror, monster, korea, bong joon-ho, nyff, seoul, sewers, satire[/tags]

Creature feature from 1953; essentially a remake of King Kong with nothing to recommend it but the early Harryhausen animation. Nukes unleash a rampaging dinosaur, nukes finish him off. The finale at Coney Island–the heroes ride the Cyclone in full Homer Simpson hazmat getup–is worth catching on late night TV sometime.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Eugène Lourié, 1953. **

[tags]ray harryhausen, ray bradbury, monster, dinosaur, new york, coney island, film, 2 stars[/tags]