A filmmaker known for making animated films with rich, intelligent sociopolitical themes, Sang-ho Yeon's latest film finds the filmmaker turn his attention towards more blockbuster-oriented fare with Train to Busan, a harrowing zombie thriller that follows a group of passengers trapped on a bullet-train, fighting their way through the South Korean countryside as a viral outbreak threatens the entire country. Train to Busan is just the latest film out of South Korea that completely embarrasses Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking, being a tight, intense, and heartfelt blockbuster that manages to be compelling from start to finish while also understanding the importance of pacing and coherence. The film is centered around Seok Hwa, a fund manager, who works long hours in order to provide for his daughter. Seok's hardwork comes at a cost, as he has unintentionally neglected his young daughter, Soo-ahn, who feels unwanted and views her father as a selfish, self-centered man. On his daughter's birthday, Seok-Woo promises to take his daughter to her mothers (his ex-wife) in Busan. Boarding the KTX, a bullet train that runs from Seoul to Busan, the father and daughter soon find themselves in the fight of their lives when zombies overrun the train, the result of a biotech outbreak that will threaten the entire country, if not all of humanity. Taking place mainly in the confines of the bullet train, Train to Busan is a film that manages to be both expansive in scope, yet intimate in design, with filmmaker Sang-ho Yeon capably striking a great balance between these two elements throughout its fevered running time. The tight confines of the train only help the tension and horror of the situation these characters find themselves in, with Sang-ho Yeon's directly creating a great undercurrent of ominous, approaching dread on the train early on, before the chaos begins. The zombies in Train to Busan are like feral animals, beings with no consciousness whose only purpose is to feed on the living around them. While this is far from a foreign concept, likening to a cross between the zombies of World War Z and 28 Days Later, Sang-ho Yeon does enough to differentiate his film, routinely relying on speed ramping to give the film a more chaotic, explosive feeling of violence. Built around the archetype of big budget disaster films, Train to Busan features a large ensemble cast, telling its tale of survival that finds a group of passengers coming face to face with their own potential demise. The country is falling apart, humanity itself is threatened, but yet the center conflict of Train to Busan remains its heartfelt story of father and daughter, one which finds Seok-Woo show his daughter the true meaning of sacrifice and importance for empathy towards all of humanity. Sang-ho Yeon's tale is gripping and intense sure, but perhaps the film's most compelling attribute is its cry for more compassion in humanity, using not only Seok-Woo's story, but those of other passengers to detail the overall importance of human-beings remembering their shared empathy in times of life and death. Sang-ho Yeon's film acknowledges the primal, inherent selfishness of man when the survivalist mindset kicks in, yet it begs for humanity to reject this ideal, pleading that our shared humanity and empathy for each other is what makes us human. For a zombie-apocalypse thriller Train to Busan is intelligent, heartfelt, blockbuster filmmaking, being a film that brings the blood-drenched thrills but never loses focus on the heartfelt humanity of its characters, an element that seems to be sorely lacking these days in most large scale blockbusters.
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June 2023
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