Genre and Contraflow in Bong Joon-ho’s The Host
Overview: Offer an analysis of genre (Monster Movie, Comedy, Action, Horror, etc.) in the film to argue if The Host is an illustration of hybridity as defined by the course material.
Purpose: Students gain practice examining the concepts of hybridity and contraflow as exemplified by Korean film.
Prompt: Choose one scene in which you see a genre convention shaping the meaning of the film. Briefly explain how your example supports or undermines viewing The Host as an example of hybridity or contraflow. In your response, make one reference to Klein’s study of Korean film.
Response length: two or three paragraphs. Film name is Gwoemul-The Host (2006Gwoemul-The Host (2006)
Bong’s The Host and Film Genre
“Something dark in the water . . .”
-businessman before jumping into the Han River (The Host, 2006)
In 2006, the domestic market share of South Korean cinema peaked at 63.83%, and Gwoemul (The Host) was the highest grossing film of the year, selling 13 million tickets. The success of the film marked the resurgence of the domestic Korean film industry after an era of liberalization in Korean media markets that led to a flood of Hollywood productions. This flood undercut Korean film production in the previous decade (1990s). Thus, the film’s ability to (re)capture Korean movie-goers is a milestone for Korean storytelling and cultural self-definition.
Director Bong Joon-Ho mashes up genres in The Host. The filmmaker uses Japanese kaiju (large monster films), horror, comedy and Hollywood production techniques (CGI) to tell a Korean story. Analyzing the blend of genres in the film can be useful for unpacking the film as an example of hybridity and contraflow.
The symbol of a monster from the Han River may take on deeper meanings for Korean audiences (and those familiar with Korean history. The Han River runs through the city center of Seoul. Seoul experienced rapid economic growth after the Korean War and became known as the “Miracle of the Han.”
This economic growth, however, was shaped by external economic and technical assistance from Western countries and Japan. These international relationships were a bit awkward. Given Korea’s history with Japan as well as America’s occupying role following the Korean War, many Korean regarded these partnerships with ambivalence. For many, external influence uncomfortably echoed the nation’s colonial past. Still, the resulting economic prosperity undoubtedly benefited many South Koreans. [See Figure 1]. As Koreans watched their country “modernize,” questions of cultural identity and autonomy were significant. We see these questions of identity informing Korean filmmakers like Bong. But how?
Fig. 1: South Korea GNI 1952-2016.pngFigure 1
The symbol of the Han River underlines how uniquely Korean elements are central to the film despite Bong’s use of what some may see as “McDonaldized” (Ritzer, 2000) film genres from Hollywood and the Japanese film industry. Symbols and imagery in The Host allow a generic monster film to address more profound questions of Korean family, national identity and modernization.
“I have a real love and hate feeling towards American genre movies. I’ll follow the genre conventions for a while, then I want to break out and turn them upside-down” -Bong Joon-Ho
How does Bong’s use of genre reflect ideas of hybridity and contraflow? As a genre, horror often implies an “original sin” to explain the struggles of the protagonists/victims. The Host’s opening scenes (a bridge suicide and a US military doctor’s orders) make use of this original-sin convention but do so to illuminate nuanced ideas about South Korean geopolitics. The protagonists in Seoul respond to the monster in typical horror film fashion, but Bong has set up the viewer to ponder questions of nationhood and imperialism. Comedic slapstick scenes provide comic relief and define characters while the threat of death and harm drive the plot. The film displays elements of tragedy, drama, science fiction and so on.
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