Year of Release: 2016
Director: Sang-ho Yeon
Starring: Yoo Gong, Yu-mi Jung, Dong-seok Ma, Su-an Kim, Eui-sung Kim, Woo-sik Choi, Sohee, Gwi-hwa Choi
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review:
Korean director Sang-ho Yeon who made a name for himself directing animated features, made his transition to live action with "Train to Busan" which premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. The film follows the story of Seok-woo, a young divorced father who is taking his daughter back to his ex-wife, and who decides to take the train to Busan in order to do so. It's his daughter's birthday, and Seok-woo who is focused mostly on his career, starts realizing a series of odd occurrences. Turns out there's a massive zombie outbreak taking place throughout the country, and that infects some of the train passengers. Seok-woo alongside a small group of other passengers have to unite forces and resources, in order to survive as they cross the country on their way to Busan, one of the few cities still resisting the outbreak.
"Train to Busan" manages to put an interesting spin on the zombie genre, by establishing the focus of the narrative as a train that is carrying all the passengers across the country. The train carries a variety of passengers, from different backgrounds of society, different demographics, all attempting to survive an outbreak that is unstoppable and unexpected. The central figure, a career driven man, is forced to grow up, reassess his priorities and come to terms with the well being of his daughter but also of the people who surround him. It's a film that unlike "Snowpiercer" from Joon-ho Bong, doesn't highlight the class divide as much, or the social workings of society, but it does force us to look at what modern living has forced us to focus on, and how dramatic occurrences bring out the humane aspect of everyone. The film is at times maudlin and overly dramatic, but the director successfully creates an aura of surprise, danger and despair. The cast is uniformly consistent, as are the visual effects that create the surprisingly realistic hordes of zombies (at times reminiscent of Marc Forster's "World War Z"). Worth watching.
"Train to Busan" manages to put an interesting spin on the zombie genre, by establishing the focus of the narrative as a train that is carrying all the passengers across the country. The train carries a variety of passengers, from different backgrounds of society, different demographics, all attempting to survive an outbreak that is unstoppable and unexpected. The central figure, a career driven man, is forced to grow up, reassess his priorities and come to terms with the well being of his daughter but also of the people who surround him. It's a film that unlike "Snowpiercer" from Joon-ho Bong, doesn't highlight the class divide as much, or the social workings of society, but it does force us to look at what modern living has forced us to focus on, and how dramatic occurrences bring out the humane aspect of everyone. The film is at times maudlin and overly dramatic, but the director successfully creates an aura of surprise, danger and despair. The cast is uniformly consistent, as are the visual effects that create the surprisingly realistic hordes of zombies (at times reminiscent of Marc Forster's "World War Z"). Worth watching.
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