Gwoemul (The Host) is an incredible genre shifter. It starts as a creature-fest, gets into some amazingly goofball comedy and even attempts to make a political statement amidst all that. But the point is – which goes missing even in most mainstream Hollywood monster films – that this one doesn’t let go of its human angle, even for a bit. Yes, its unusually funny at times, makes a strong statement on how silly people can get at the weirdest of situations, plenty of gore all along and even has a surreal scene where one of the lead characters who goes missing, silently materializes amidst the family and no one even reacts!
For most of us accustomed to straight, to-the-point monster movies, Gwoemul is a fantastic surprise. One moment you’ll be laughing your guts out and the next, you’re doing pretty much the same, in utter horror. Director Joon-ho Bong mixes the genres pretty well along with some very imaginative cinematography and effective background score.
The human angle – the child (Hyun-seo, played with quick-witted chutzpah by Ah-sung Ko) being carried away by the monster is indeed the mainstay around which the film revolves with a feverish pace. And that stays at the back of your, the monster’s and everybody else’s mind too. How the family grapples with the situation is something seen to be believed.
The Director gets his fingers on many seemingly disjoint things but makes a very strong point on the anarchy surrounding the country and how global forces lead the hapless country to react with both urgency and extreme insensitivity just because of the word ‘virus’! So, we have brief interludes on disjoint families, affordability, credit cards, American/ World aid in times of national emergency, mass hysteria lapsing into absolute comedy, a irreverent street-side tramp, tax on reward money and the best – an amazingly shot roadside reaction to virus infection, by a bunch of people waiting for a bus!
The finale was a bit of a muddle – to be honest, and Gwoemul does leave a few unanswered questions but in the larger interest of the film’s scope, they are perhaps best left that way. We seem to have got what we came in for and I didn’t expect even one fourth of what the film showcased. Gwoemul is a superb example in making movies that go way beyond conventions and even pokes fun at monster-movie stereotypes. But you, of course, may not notice it, since the film takes itself very seriously.
The creature effects per se are fantastic. The frenetic cinematography, highlighted during the first scene where the creature is introduced and the assorted chase scenes along the banks of Han river, is incredible. The music is highly effective, particularly towards the end. Song Kang-ho (Gang-du) pretty much carries the movie even when he dozes off every other minute!
Here’s one film that can afford the ‘expect the unexpected’ tag. You look for a creature-feature and get some serious shocks – on movie making and genre bending. And all that works. Big time!
