The Host is a 2006 South Korean monster film directed by Bong Joon-Ho about a monster that emerges from the Han River in Seoul. It starred Song Kang-Ho and had themes of anti-American sentiment and the impacts of toxic waste. It was a box office success, becoming the highest grossing South Korean film at the time. The film used practical sewer locations and visual effects to create a realistic monster.

1. The Host (2006)
The Host is an international mainstream film, made entirely in South Korea, with the majority of its
dialogue in Korean. It was produced by Chungeorahm Film and Sego Entertainment and distributed
by Showbox Entertainment, all South Korean companies. It was directed by South Korean director
Bong Joon-Ho as his third film and his first major success, grossing US$89.4m on an $11 budget and
becoming the highest grossing South Korean film of all time upon release and holding the title for
eight years. It has also won six Blue Dragon awards and remains his highest grossing film.
The lead role was played by Song Kang-Ho, one of South Korea’s most prominent actors and a
frequent collaborator with director Bong Joon-Ho. Kang-Ho has been active since the mid-90s and
his presence as an actor helped the film receive significant attention in its home country. Besides
Song Kang-Ho, all of Bong Joon-Ho’s actor collaborations up to that point, including first time
collaborators Go Ah-Sung and Yoon Je-Moon, had roles in this film; Tilda Swindon did not make her
first collaboration until 2013’s Snowpiercer.
As a mainstream film, there are fewer risks taken in this film than Colossal, although there are still
more themes explored than the standard Hollywood blockbuster. The film starts with anti-American
sentiment by having an American pathologist ordering formaldehyde to be poured down the drain
into the Han River. It continued with the unleashing of the lethal “Agent Yellow”, commissioned by
the US after one of their soldiers was killed by the monster. This anti-American sentiment helped the
film become one of few South Korean films to be approved by North Korean media. There are also
sections that deal with alcoholism and, in the latter half of the film, homelessness and hunger. More
in line with the standards of monster films, there is a very definite presence of “humans vs. nature”
and “love and loss”.
Character arcs are also present in the film. Nearer the start of the film, the main character, Park
Gang-Du, is depicted as incredibly hapless, even to the point of losing his own daughter to the
monster attacking Seoul. However, as the film progresses he develops significant competence after
realising that his daughter is still alive in the sewers and develops the determination to save her.
While in the end she is killed by Agent Orange, he does continue his fatherhood after adopting a boy
his daughter found in the sewers.
Political grounding plays a very heavy influence on the film’s story and motivations. As mentioned
before, the film starts with an American pathologist working in Seoul asking his assistant to pour
formaldehyde into the Han River. This refers to a genuine incident when a Korean mortician for the
US military was asked to pour toxic waste into the Han river in 2000. This is not the only time the US
is depicted as antagonistic. At the climax of the film, a toxic gas known as “Agent Yellow” refers to
the real-life Agent Orange, which was used by the US in the Vietnam War to kill of forests that gave
the Viet Kong the advantage in war. The film also depicts the South Korean government as uncaring
and inept. There is also the presence of youth protestors against the use of Agent Yellow and one
main character is anachronistic, as he attempts to kill the monster by throwing a lit Molotov
cocktails at it.
Production for the film was relatively complicated. The sewer scenes were shot in an actual sewer in
Seoul near the Han River instead of a more conventional set. As a result of this, the actors and crew
had to be vaccinated against tetanus and the filming had to be timed with the weather as cold
weather froze the sewage and hot weather turned silt into dust which blew into crew and actor’s
faces.

2. The film also makes very heavy use of special effects. The creature was designed by Chin Wei-Chen,
who decided on a mutant fish-like creature as opposed to the fantastical giant monsters that are
more common in monster films. Models were created by the New Zealand-based Weta Workshop,
who designed the mythical creatures for the “Lord of the Rings” franchise. The CGI for the monster
was undertaken by The Orphanage, who did the visual effects for 2002’s “The Day After Tomorrow”,
one of the most popular disaster films of the early-2000s. All this created the final appearance of the
film. This created a more realistic appearance that made the film feel more believable.
1. Anon. (2006). The Host (2006 film). Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Host_(2006_film). Last accessed 2nd Dec 2017.
2. Anon. (2005). Song Kang-Ho. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Kang-ho. Last
accessed 2nd Dec 2017.
3. Anon. (2006). Bong Joon-ho. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_Joon-ho. Last
accessed 2nd Dec 2017.