Seoul Station

Dir: Yeon Sang-ho

2016

***

Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie action thriller Train to Busan took horror fans by storm and was very well received upon release. If that wasn’t enough, Yeon Sang-ho decided to make a prequel that was to be released the same year. The prequel, Seoul Station, tells the story of how the zombie outbreak got on board the train to Busan in the first place, the only difference being that instead of live-action, Sang-ho decided to go back to what he does best and made it as an animation. I remember the same sort of thing being tried out with The Matrix but to varying success, here it works perfectly. The story takes place in and around Seoul station, rather unfortunately (and the film’s big fault in my opinion) a homeless man appears to be the source of a zombie apocalypse. The story revolves around two main characters: Hye-sun, who has just run away from her former life in a brothel and Suk-gyu, her father who searches for his runaway daughter, only to discover she has become a prostitute. Just as he is about to be reunited with her, a zombie epidemic breaks out in Seoul. Hye-sun now lives with her good-for-nothing boyfriend, Ki-woong, who intends to pimp her out again due to money problems. After a fight about this, the two separate and are caught in the chaos bursting out of Seoul Station. Hye-sun escapes with a few survivors into a police station and becomes trapped by a group of zombies within a jail cell, only to realize a surviving policeman in the cell with them has been bitten. Meanwhile, Suk-gyu poses as a customer to Ki-woong before interrogating him for her location. The two go to Hye-sun's home, only to find that the landlady has become a zombie. At the police station, the bitten officer calls for backup before succumbing to his infection. One of the survivors beats the officer unconscious, but the officer reanimates and bites another survivor in the cell. Help arrives and draws the infected away, allowing Hye-sun and an old man to escape the cell and get into an ambulance. The old man panics when he realizes they are en route to the hospital, where many reports of bite wounds appear to be coming in. He attempts to take the wheel from the driver and causes the vehicle to crash. Hye-sun and the old man flee through the subway. Outside the station, Ki-Woong calls Hye-sun but their conversation alerts the infected. The two are saved, only to realize they are placed in a quarantine by riot police. They learn from the authorities that they consider the crisis to be an insurrection. Survivors fighting in the quarantine slowly succumb to growing numbers of infected people. After a speech on his poor position in society, the old man tries to lead a revolt. He is quickly killed by gunfire, throwing the crowd into a panic as the infected consume them. Hye-Sun is then able to escape. Hye-sun makes her way into an empty showroom. She notifies Ki-woong of her location before falling asleep. When Ki-woong and Hye-sun are reunited, she reveals that Suk-gyu is not her father but rather her previous pimp who only refers to himself as her father. As an argument erupts, Ki-woong tries to attack Suk-gyu with a knife but is killed instead. Hye-sun tries to flee but Suk-gyu subdues her on a bed. As he prepares to rape her, she loses consciousness and seems to die. As Suk-gyu frantically applies CPR, he looks down and realizes she was scratched on her foot and infected. As Hye-sun reanimates and kills Suk-gyu, the camera zooms past a dead Ki-woong and the infected overrunning the quarantine. It’s a dark film, particularly for an animation. I have issues with a few elements of the story; I hate that the homeless are victimised and blamed for the outbreak and I do feel that because the film is animated, they could have gone a little more over the top with aspects of the story and in the action sequences. It is a film that could have easily been live-action without too much problem, so I don’t know why they didn’t push the boat out a little and get a bit crazy with it. The twist ending was a nice touch though. It might be Yeon Sang-ho’s most successful animation to date, although I loved King of Pigs. It is an unnecessary addition to the Train to Busan story but a very welcome surprise all the same.

Train to Busan

Dir: Yeon Sang-ho

2016

***

Train to Busan may seem like a rather average zombie film at first, but there is a lot going on that the average viewer may not initially release. This marks the first live action film from director Yeon Sang-Ho, who is better known for his works of animation, but anyone who has seen The King of Pigs will definitely see his style come through, indeed, Train to Busan really does feel like a Manga-style animation, rather than a live-action action/thriller/horror. While ‘Zombies on a train’ has been done before, it’s never been done with as much panache as this. There is a clear (but subtle enough) undercurrent of social commentary explored within the film’s story, but I would argue that this is 90% character development and 10% comment on social hierarchy. If you want to see a brilliant Korean film about class war set on a train then watch Snowpiercer, but don’t let anyone tell you the two films are similar, because they’re not. The zombie genre is full of samey films that all share similar themes, Train to Busan has likenesses to World War Z, 28 Days Later and many of Romero’s films but it probably has more in common with Snakes on a Plane or Jurassic Park in many respects. Where Dawn of the Dead was all doom, Train to Busan is all terror. I would class it more of an apocalypse film than a zombie film, even though they are generally one and the same thing, at least when done properly. While the characters are based on stereotypes, they are all given as much development as possible, which is the key to the film’s success. The special effects are generally good, although not always brilliant. I think the zombie type was effective, they’re of the newer fast-paced zombie, with a clean mix of ‘undead’ and ‘infected’. I thought their weaknesses was explored well but the World War Z style mania didn’t really fit with the slower paces zombies seen on the train itself. Zombie snobs (and they do exist) will pick the film to the bone, personally I think it approaches the genre rather well. The only thing I would have liked to have seen more of is inventive gore, but then it felt more of an action thriller most of the time, so it wasn’t necessarily needed. While the first rule of making a zombie film should be to make an original zombie film, you do also need to stick to the basics. You need a good set-up, a way in which the virus spreads not too quickly but not too slowly. You need to establish the core characters just enough before one of them is bitten and you need to ensure that the ending makes a clear statement. The conclusion of a zombie film is vital. Ambiguity is acceptable if you do something special with it and ‘happily ever after’ should be avoided at all costs. I think Train to Busan has an ending that can appeal to everyone’s tastes and also leaves the story open for a sequel or series. Yeon Sang-Ho clearly has plans, as his animated prequel ‘Seoul Station – that explores the origin of the outbreak on the train – is a great set-up that begs for a further continuation of the same story. While I find that Yeon Sang-Ho’s animations don’t often translate very well, Train to Busan is pretty universal. It’s the perfect length and everything happens exactly when it should for full effect. When exploring the theme, you should always make it believable – even though the concept is anything but. Yeon Sang-Ho manages this and does so with style and sophistication. I was excited more than I was horrified, which isn’t to my personal taste when it comes to zombie films, but I was happily entertained throughout.

The King of Pigs
Dir: Yeon Sang-ho
2011
***
Yeon Sang-ho's The King of Pigs feels a little bit contrived at first but then I've had my fill of anime films that evolve around the High School. Is School such a horrible experience in Asian countries? Whether it's falling in love or depression or murder or being abducted by aliens, it always seems to be Schools fault. However, I loved the film's mix of violence, MANGA style South Korean extreme cinema. It is unapologetically dark, which I really loved about it. I found the empty viciousness of the story compelling, the violence soon became the normal of the story however, and once you acclimatize yourself to it, you can see further and understand what the film is really about. This is a very clever trick to pull off, particularly in moving animation. The opening scene which sees our protagonist murdering his wife is a shocking introduction to the story and characters but it is far from sensationalist. When you learn that the film is based on true events and that every detail has been depicted to the very last detail, it will leave you cold but impressed. The animation is of a very high standard, with wonderful attention to detail, particularly in the backgrounds. I'm not sure I liked the character animation as much but the facial expressions are at times, amazing. I've tried to picture what a live-action version would look like but I almost don't want to, somethings are best left in animation. It's a stunning film, I have to confess that I didn't like all of it - I'm not sure 'like' is the right word - but I'm utterly impressed all the same.