W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^095
FLASHBACK
THE HOSTin to self-blame, although he’s done nothing
wrong. There’s loss and mourning but also a
mixture of blame and blaming others. The very
complicated feelings that come out towards
myself and towards society, those feelings are
shown a lot in The Host and I think that’s a
very strong, distinct Korean feeling. It’s very
common for this feeling to happen even in
daily occurrences.”
Joon-ho continues that sentiment, saying,
“I think it’s almost an Asian feeling, if this
happened in France, people would be
throwing stones at the government buildings,
whereas in Asia if something bad happens
people tend to blame themselves. I think that
is what actor Song is saying, and it is shown a
lot in the fi lm. Like, it was my fault that I
lost the child, or it was my fault that I didn’t
buy my child a car and that they died in an
accident on the underground, [he is referring
to another national Korean tragedy, The
Daegu subway fi re] when, in fact, it is a
governmental issue or a systemic issue. It’s
very common that you see people put the
blame on themselves, they harass themselves
or they persecute themselves instead of
looking to the real source.”
Fourteen years after its premiere at Cannes
fi lm festival in the director’s fortnight strand,
The Host’s social and environmental horrors
are writ large today. Government ineptitude
and corruption is out of control and it is
the laypeople who are suffering the tragic
consequences, this time on a catastrophic,
global scale. It’s a fi lm that so rightly
deserves its ‘modern monster movie
masterpiece’ moniker.The Host is available on Blu-ray
by Studiocanal.riverbank was really diffi cult. Plus, the stench
underneath the Wonhyo Bridge, where the
monster lives, was unbearable.”
It’s at that river’s edge location where
the creature, known in modern circles as
Gwoemul (the Korean title for the fi lm) fi rst
jumps out to startle a crowd and greedily
gobble them up.
In all the chaos, the bumbling father
struggles to keep a grasp of his daughter’s
hand, losing her to the monster, which
Kang-ho explains is a symbol of self-blame:
“In Korea, and I’m sure it’s true for other
countries as well, the sense of a very collective
disaster where you see the loss of your family
or for some unfortunate reason are separated
from your family breeds a kind of social
collective atmosphere.”
He continues saying: “I tried to act very
symbolically when he loses the grip on the
hand of the daughter. The father really goesThe monster took over
a year to create.© Dick Thomas Johnson095FLASHBACK
THE HOSTdaily occurrences.”The Host’sThe Host’sThe Host’scollective atmosphere.” masterpiece’ moniker.© Dick Thomas Johnson© Dick Thomas Johnson