5/6/20 Dominick Villamor (LATE) PD 7

2020-03-06/15

Dominick Villamor Period 7

It’s just as they say: nothing curbs pandemic-related uneasiness like a markedly more harrowing zombie film. Train to Busan has sat on my plan-to-watch list since shortly after its release but trauma over cheap jumpscares meant I’ve never actually watched it until now. It’s definitely well made and devoid of the jumpscares I so despise. In fact, it seemed Train to Busan’s director Yeon Sang-ho fooled me into cringing into my chair and peeking through my fingers in preparation for a jumpscare that was never to be. Like a good/bad pun, I could only narrow my eyes and acknowledge I’d been had. Fool me once, shame on you---or something like that. Spoiler warning if that wasn’t obvious.

On the subject of subverted expectations, many moons ago I wrote a blog on ancient Greek theater and catharsis. There is perhaps no greater denial of that release than with this movie… or so I thought. Stallion Express COO Yon-suk set himself up to be the movie’s human antagonist very early on, generating a class conflict subtext as he disparages the homeless man in the bathroom. It reminded me of another Korean-directed film Snowpiercer which combines a similarly apocalyptic and locomotive setting with a pronounced caste system.  As the threat of zombie apocalypse solidifies, Yon-suk further settles into his villain role as he barks orders to the train staff. As a seasoned veteran of the NYC public transportation system, this all just seemed like a regular day though I understand being a little frantic in those circumstances. My sentiments changed as he turned the denizens of Car 15 against Seok-woo and co. leading to Sang-hwa’s death. When Jong-gil loosed the undead hordes unto Car 15, my frustration with Yon-suk washed away and I thought everything would be happily ever after. In a last ditch effort to garner some sympathy for our villain, the movie reveals Yon-suk’s more vulnerable side: more a lost child than a ruthless businessman. Needless to say, I wasn’t moved but individually reconciling my anger towards some pixels on a screen may have been the real catharsis all along.

While Yon-suk’s zombified dialogue did little to change my view, it was another data point in an interesting trend I observed throughout the movie: “zombies” held some lucidity well after their physical transformation. It led to some touching scenes like Sang-hwa holding back the zombies like a Spartan at Thermopylae and the two elderly sisters touching hands through a soon-to-be-opened glass door, but its real value was piquing my curiosity as to this movie’s handling of zombie behavior. Train to Busan dare I say masterfully established what made zombies so dangerous. Heavy emphasis was placed on the zombies’ cloudy eyes leading to our protagonist utilizing the numerous tunnels to move through the cars in relative safety. They also used sound to lure zombies to more advantageous positions and I’m wondering if the sound produced by zombies as they investigated an actual sound would lead to a snowball effect which would help gather a greater crowd of zombies. I also can’t help but feel like the luxury sound isolation on the KTX was detrimental and I can rest easy knowing the deafening rumble on the SI Railway will keep me safe in a zombie apocalypse. Overall, the zombies and their mannerisms were thoughtfully constructed to give more substance to the threat they posed and showcase the characters’ ingenuity.

Another interesting aspect of Train to Busan was reconciling the cultural differences and some confusion I had as a non-Korean audience. Su-an singing Aloha ‘Oe with her father absent for another time may have been a very emotional moment, but it’s also a Spongebob song and I couldn’t get past that association. The emphasis on Busan and its association with safety was also particularly intriguing. Some reading into the history of Busan reveals its status as something of a historical bulwark for South Korea. Busan was actually one of the few cities to remain under South Korean control during the Korean War and the site of the United Nations last stand at the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter (the contradictory spelling is due to change in Romanization). Another thing to note is Seok-woo being a workaholic which reminded me of reading about an intense work culture in South Korea with regards to esports. Long story short, a couple years ago there was drama over an allegedly disruptive Korean player on a mainly Western team because he wanted to practice more, though “difference in culture” was officially cited by the general manager as to the reason for his trading away. I’m not well read enough to comment further but there’s definitely something to be said about a culture’s underlying influence on the media it produces.

COVID-19 seems to be on everyone’s mind nowadays and for good reason. I’ll admit I even cringed a little when the guard at the beginning of the movie pulled his mask down to talk to the truck driver. I’m not big on movies but watching them is certainly a good distractor and perhaps there is some value in watching movie characters handle tangentially related situations from an outside, objective perspective.