The Host (2006)

Esta película es uno de los clásicos modernos del cine coreano del famoso director Bong Joon-Ho, del cual recomiendo TODAS sus películas.
En el caso de The Host, quizás es la que menos me gustó pero aún así la recomiendo muchísimo. La trama se centra en hacer una crítica social a Corea, como es normal en las películas del director, en este caso centrado en la contaminación de las aguas del río Han y el resultado que este tiene, la creación de un monstruo que aterroriza a la población de Seúl cuando despierta.
Los personajes me parecieron entrañables y es que Bong Joon-Ho suele crear personajes en sus películas que tienen la mezcla exacta de humor, ridiculez y coraje, algo que hace que la trama se pase muy rápido y entretenida.
El director suele hacer películas donde la trama no es muy complicada, a pesar de la denuncia social que realiza, lo que hace que sea fácil de ver y que el espectador no se líe con cuestiones que puedan entorpecer el entendimiento de la película. Por lo que en The Host, la historia es sencilla y fácil de seguir. Sin embargo, también te mantiene alerta en todo momento ya que también cuenta con la cantidad exacta de suspense.
Si quieres comenzar con el cine coreano, recomiendo mucho las películas de este director, Bong Joon-Ho y The Host, junto con Parásitos, es una de las más famosas.

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HIGHLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THIS MOVIE.
This movie is a masterpiece by the talented director Bong Joon-ho. The genre for this movie is a horror but this does not mean that it obeys every convention of a 'normal' horror movie.

Bong uses The Host to address the political relationship between America and South Korea. This movie is often seen as a very anti-America film BUT this is not what Bong intended. Bong does not paint the South Korean people featured within the film well either.

Bong addresses the issue of heroism in America; he addresses the Korean people's attachment to cellphones and technology; he addresses political relationships; family relationships; etc etc etc

This movie may NOT seem like a horror movie. It is but then it also is not. It is not a gruesome movie, it does not have much gore, and the moments of tension and anxiousness that the Host will inflict on the viewer is broken will moments of black humor. These inserts of humor is not to get 'cheap laughs' but to distance the viewer from what is being shown on screen. The humor that Bong uses makes the viewer remember that it is just a story, it is a movie and not real, then the viewer can watch and make a judgement on the relationships being shown on screen without leaving the theater jumpy and scared.

The monster within the Host was accidentally created by the American base dumping a toxic chemical into the Han River. This is very significant as a situation like this happened in reality. The American base's morgue dumped hundreds of liters of embalming fluid into the Han river in 2000. The Han river did become toxic because of this. (although some people claim that this is only a myth).
During the Host Bong addresses some of the political issues between South Korea and America that are present in reality.

This movie was so popular in South Korea that 20% of the total population of South Korea, even today, watched The Host at the cinema (this does not include people watching it more than one or home viewings). I highly recommend watching this movie as it is not only an enjoyable storyline but it gives insight into reality.

I live in New Zealand and in my University Cinema Studies course The Host was featured and analyzed. This movie is influential enough to have been recognized in such a small country as New Zealand. I high recommend watching this movie.
Also if you are put off by the genre Horror don't be, this is not a conventional horror movie, to the casual viewer it will seem more to be more like a Thriller than Horror. And if you are put off by my review please don't be. This movie is a great watch on the surface and very enjoyable to the casual viewer.

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