The Host, better known as Gwoemul has been categorized as a genre film due to its combination of "outbreak" narrative, monster movies, news reportage, melodrama, and comedy. The film generally brings out the situation in South Korean political, army dictatorship as well as the economic state of affair. The film proprietor Bong Joon-ho tries to relate the current situation to the historical happenings in the country. He explains the action of an American scientist of ordering the disposal of 120 liters of formaldehyde in Han River that is used by Seoul residents. The results of the chemical disposal are the creation of amphibious monster- the giant Frankenstein that terrorizes people. The government reacts by further scaring people of an outbreak of a dangerous virus that is treatable with "Agent Yellow." Basically, the unfolding of historical events of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and the later outcomes, followed by government action against the occurrences is what Bong is presenting in the movie.
In a frequent manner, he breaks away from genre formula via bearing the heavy weight of past occurrences to slapstick comedy. The Seoul populace admits that they are not sure if the government report of a virus outbreak is real, but as long as the authority says so: "who are they to say otherwise" (“The Host' Has Plenty of Fun at Government's Expense." par. 4). Bong brings out the situation to create humor in a sarcastic way. The horror that is created by the gigantic monster as it pursues the river bystanders is a reflection of breaking into a new genre of monster film. While the survivors are mourning their loved ones in the gymnasium, an officer comes in and unfortunately slips and falls to the floor. He stands promptly and continues to patrol. He is not seen elsewhere in the movie which means that it was used to break tension created by horrific actions of the giant monster.
Bong himself admits having less interest in the traditional monster film where he says "I have a real love and hate feelings towards American genre movies. I'll follow the genre convention for a while, and then want to break out and turn them upside down” (‘The Host’ par. 1). Consequently, he can draw on and digress from genre conventions through fictional news clips and use of multiple subtopics. Furthermore, the generic combination allows him to bring out different situations together in a unique manner. For instance, with the huge creature roaming along the river and hunting down the flesh and blood of the people, the army fears that it might have the mysterious virus that the government and World Health Organization mentioned. Thus, the military takes the initiative to quarantine all those who may have come into contact with the creature. Consequently, as these events open out, different genres come out clearly- for instance, the act of subjecting be general public in quarantine measures for a virus that is only imaginary is hysterical and melodramatic. Moreover, one film analyst, Manohla Dargis's observations of the movie's originality being the dissolution of genre conventions is a clear indication of this digression (“The Host” par. 1). He thinks that the film is a loose and a nearly borderline messy film. He also says that the movie presents a feeling of warring with contrasting methods and moods to relay various characters in the presenters.
Unlike most monster or horror films, The Host stands out as a unique film that do not towards the extreme ends while selecting a survivor from the monster's demise. The director uses a dysfunctional family instead of the standard muscle-bound hero to eliminate the monster. The Gang-du’s family is the first one to be affected by the amphibious creature through the kidnapping of his daughter Hyun-seo. Therefore, the entire clan decides to rescue their child by eliminating the monstrous thing. Indeed, the everyday people will save the day in the film other than the usual typical superheroes. With such characters, it is easy to bring out the humanity in them to enhance the drama and humor distinct from other movies. Furthermore, the film is quite skillful being able to make sudden twist from horror to narrative, to action to comedy and so on. On the contrary, most films of the same category prefer to stick to a single genre to the end instead of combining some many of them. Whereas most horror movies are for entertainment purposes, this one is symbolic, reflecting the historical incidences in South Korea that haunt the present life situation. It also shows the significance of family ties and the need to support one another especially during trying times. Ethically, the film demonstrates the importance of treating others with dignity and consideration no matter their social standards. The government is also significantly challenged to be swift when dealing with issues affecting its citizens, instead of leaving them to solve such disasters solely. The film condemns dictatorship and other ruling systems that deny the public freedom of expression. But, above all the movie is very entertaining.
The significance of identifying the differences between The Host film and other monster or horror films is to appreciate the intentions of the author. Indeed, the director’s purpose of creating this movie was to showcase the state of affair that requires intervention by the government and other relevant bodies. Also, each film represents a distinctive moral teaching besides the entertaining objective. The moral value demonstrated here is loyalty. Bong’s devotion to his country is to inform others of the happenings that are affecting the society as a whole. Detecting the differences between the films helps to value diversity. In reality, this has been approved by the high number of people watching the movie every day world-widely. Consequently, people have expressed their feelings about it, through the thousands of reviews written. The majority of views support the purpose of the movie while others criticize where necessary.
In conclusion, it is evident that The Host film is not only diverse in the ways it brings out its main ideas but also how it renders the lessons delivered to people. Though grouped as a genre film, it breaks from the original style quite often by twisting suddenly from epidemiological outbreak narrative to a monster movie to horror to comedy excreta. It happens as a result of the author’s intention of creating an exclusive and attractive video through deviating from the original ways of creating a film and instead adding a unique feeling to it. Thus, the film turns to be different from other monster or horror films due to the ability of the director to deviate from the usual way of directing such films. It is also essential to recognize why such differences exist.
Works Cited
“The Host' Has Plenty of Fun at Government's Expense." Reading Eagle (Reading, PA). N.p., 14 June 2007. Web. 2016.
"The Host” (2006). Directed by Bong Joon-ho • Reviews, Film Cast • Letterboxd. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
