The Host

This is one of those moments where everything falls into place, where the biggest commercial blockbuster is also the most satisfying film of the year. This thoroughly entertaining monster movie also works as potent political commentary. The American military, in its infinite carelessness, flushes a bunch of chemicals into Seoul’s Han River. This has got to lead to something bad, in the person of one of the most superbly athletic monsters to grace Asian cinema since Godzilla got out of the wrong side of the bed. The Americans are experts at creating a mess and then using it as the pretext for further intervention. Caught in the middle is a family of genial Korean bozos galvanised (kind of) into action when their daughter is abducted by the monster. If Bong’s first two films, Barking Dogs Never Bite and Memories of Murder, marked him as a talent to watch, The Host, which has smashed every Korean box office record, establishes him as the foremost director in the world’s most energetic national cinema. A triumphant reminder of the strange and marvellous ways that important things can somehow, sometimes find vital expression through pop culture.

Bong Joon-ho is a Guest of the Festival

The Host mixes more than a few political barbs into its genre cocktail: a bit of SARS here, a bit of Iraq there. Yet it's with a black sense of playfulness and absurdity that these satirical quips are delivered to the audience, suggesting that the film's chief concerns lie elsewhere.

Darcy Paquet, Koreanfilms