Gwoemul (2006)

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Chul-hyun Baek (writer)
Joon-ho Bong (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

27 July 2006 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It is Lurking Behind You

Plot:

A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people.

Plot Keywords:

River | Monster | Daughter | Archery | Panic

Awards:

18 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Kang-ho Song	...	Park Gang-Du
Hie-bong Byeon	...	Park Hie-bong (as Byun Hee-bong)
Hae-il Park	...	Park Nam-il
Du-na Bae	...	Park Nam-Joo (as Bae Doo-na)
Ah-sung Ko	...	Park Hyun-seo (as Ko A-sung)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Joseph Anselmo	...	Donald
Martin Lord Cayce	...	U.S. Senator
Cristen Cho
Paul Lazar	...	US Doctor trying to operate Gang-Du
Brian Lee
Clinton Morgan	...	Agent Yellow
Dal-su Oh	...	The Monster (voice)
No-shik Park
Brian Rhee	...	Young Korean Doctor (as Brian Lee)
Scott Wilson	...	US Doctor in Morgue
Pil-Sung Yim	...	Fat Guevara

Directed by
Joon-ho Bong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chul-hyun Baek		writer
Joon-ho Bong		writer
Won-jun Ha		writer (as Jun-won Ha)

Produced by
Yong-bae Choi	....	producer
Junyoung Jang	....	co-producer
Neung-yeon Joh	....	producer
Lewis Kim	....	co-producer
Woo-Taek Kim	....	executive producer
Jeong Tae-Sung	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Byung-woo Lee

Cinematography by
Hyung-ku Kim

Film Editing by
Sun-min Kim

Casting by
John Jackson

Production Design by
Seong-hie Ryu

Sound Department
Coll Anderson	....	sound designer
Tae-young Choi	....	sound
Sean Garnhart	....	sound designer
Yasuaki Nakajima	....	adr supervisor
Rob Nokes	....	additional sound effects
Bill Orrico	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Julie Anderson	....	project coordinator
Toby Barron	....	painter
Toby Barron	....	sculptor
Brett Beacham	....	foam latex fabricator
Brett Beacham	....	mold maker
Janine Bray	....	hair technician
Teisha Brook	....	project coordinator
John Cox	....	animatronics supervisor: John Cox's creature Workshop
Liam Hardy	....	painter
Liam Hardy	....	sculptor
Josh Head	....	foam latex fabricator
Josh Head	....	mold maker
Tobias Jahke	....	foam latex fabricator
Tobias Jahke	....	mold maker
Heui-cheol Jang	....	special creature effects
Richard Mueck	....	painter
Richard Mueck	....	sculptor
Cheryl Newton	....	hair technician
Steven Parker	....	painter
Steven Parker	....	sculptor
James Paul	....	animatronics
James Paul	....	on-set technician
David Renn	....	painter
David Renn	....	sculptor
Steven Renn	....	animatronics
Mark Sloane	....	animatronics
Sonny Tilders	....	animatronics

Visual Effects by
Christopher Abeyta	....	production accountant
Shadi Almassizadeh	....	computer graphics supervisor
Lindsay Anderson	....	rotoscope artist
Robert Barker	....	systems engineer
Kirstin Bradfield	....	compositor
Juan Bronson	....	visual effects coordinator
Daniela Calafatello	....	modeler
Francis L. Camacho	....	matchmove artist (as Francis Camacho)
Josh Cardenas	....	digital artist (as Joshua Cardenas)
Carrie Cassada	....	visual effects editor
Irfan Celik	....	lead look development artist
Wei Chin Chen	....	matchmove artist
Jeremy Cho	....	lead 2D paint artist
Jeremy Cho	....	lead roto artist
YouJin Choung	....	compositor (as Youjin Cheung)
Brendan Coffey	....	information technology director
Webster Colcord	....	animation supervisor
Kathleen Cosby	....	digital artist
Kevin Coyle	....	rotoscope artist
Stéphane Cros	....	creature rigger
Rif Dagher	....	lead digital artist (as Rifaat Dagher)
Bruce Dahl	....	animator
Joe C. D'Amato	....	support
Pallavi Devabhaktuni	....	digital paint and rotoscope artist: The Orphanage
Tim Dobbert	....	matchmove supervisor
Andi Dorfan	....	rotoscope artist
Rama Dunayevich	....	publicist: The Orphanage
Greg Dunn	....	systems engineer
Greg Durrett	....	matchmove artist
Trina Espinoza	....	digital artist
Katharine Evans	....	rotoscope artist
Simon Eves	....	software development
Nathan Fariss	....	lead digital artist
Jesse Fernley	....	compositor
Arin Finger	....	visual effects producer
Sharon Fitzgerald	....	recruiter
Kate Geaghan	....	support
David Gladstein	....	software development
Daniel Gloates	....	senior staff: The Orphanage
Juli Gumbiner	....	manager of support and resource admin
Mark Hamilton	....	digital artist
Tyler Ham	....	matchmove artist
Jonathan Harman	....	senior technical director
Marianne Heath	....	rotoscope artist
Paul Hettler	....	senior visual effects producer
Ki Jong Hong	....	creature rigger
Sunghwan Hong	....	rotoscope artist
Kevin Hoppe	....	matchmover: The Orphanage
Jessica Hsieh	....	rotoscope artist
Tony Hurd	....	production operations manager
Michael Hutchinson	....	visual effects assistant editor
Michael Janov	....	lead digital artist
Steve Jaworski	....	lead compositor
Karen Kelly	....	visual effects coordinator
Brook Kievit	....	modeler
Kelly Kim	....	visual effects coordinator
Seryong Kim	....	visual effects consultant
SeungJang 'Jack' Kim	....	modeler
Makoto Koyama	....	animator
Scott Kravitz	....	animator
Heath Kraynak	....	rotoscope artist
Michal Kriukow	....	digital artist
Brian Kulig	....	CG sequence supervisor
Brian Kulig	....	pipeline software developer
Jessica Lai	....	matchmove artist
David Huynh Lam	....	resource technical assistant (as David Lam)
Jeon-hyeong Lee	....	visual effects
Soyoun Lee	....	rotoscope artist
Michael Lester	....	matchmove artist
Jimmy Lillard	....	visual effects assistant editor
Kymber Lim	....	visual effects consultant
Todd Lindo	....	manager of support and resource admin
Daniel Loeb	....	animator
Ting Lo	....	matchmoving artist (as Tiffany Lo)
Jonathan Lyons	....	animator
Kevin Mains	....	resource technical assistant
Stuart T. Maschwitz	....	senior staff: The Orphanage (as Stu Maschwitz)
Kyle McCulloch	....	compositor
Dan McNamara	....	senior staff: The Orphanage
Neil Michka	....	lead animator
Matt Moses	....	digital artist
Ross Nakamura	....	roto/paint artist: The Orphanage
Natalie Nolan	....	compositor
Luke O'Byrne	....	visual effects executive producer
Michael Oregon	....	support
Alex Orzulak	....	resource technical assistant
JaeWook Park	....	digital artist
David Parsons	....	animator
Christopher Paul	....	matchmove artist
David Petry	....	matchmove artist
Alexander Pouchkarev	....	modeler (as Sasha Pouchkarev)
Alex Prichard	....	lead compositor
Ralph Procida	....	digital artist
Kevin Rafferty	....	visual effects supervisor
Nina Rappaport	....	visual effects consultant
Dav Rauch	....	compositor
Aaron Rhodes	....	rotoscope supervisor
Grover Richardson	....	rotoscope artist
Corey Rosen	....	creature supervisor
Jonathan Rothbart	....	visual effects supervising consultant: The Orphanage
Salvador Ruiz	....	animator: The Orphanage
Jesse Russell	....	compositor
Marc Sadeghi	....	executive visual effects producer
Moshe Sayada	....	compositor
Joe Scarr	....	digital artist
Andrew Schneider	....	lead animator
Charles Schwartz	....	matchmove artist (as Charlie Schwartz)
Stan Seo	....	modeler
Nick Sinnott	....	matchmove artist
Carsten Sørensen	....	senior staff: The Orphanage
Michael Spaw	....	CG sequence supervisor
David Stern-Gottfried	....	resource technical assistant
Scott Stewart	....	senior staff: The Orphanage
Lisa Todd	....	visual effects digital production manager
Brian Tolle	....	matchmove lead
Jan Van Buyten	....	animator
Brent Villalobos	....	software development
Carl Walters	....	editorial supervisor
Renee Ward	....	visual effects production assistant
Ken Wesley	....	digital artist
Mary Beth Worzella	....	visual effects digital production manager (as Mary Beth)
Tiffany Wu	....	matchmove/roto coordinator
Jeremy Yabrow	....	software development manager
Andrea Yelle	....	human resources
Danyo Donghyun Yoon	....	pre-visualization artist

Other crew
Daniel Carlisle	....	puppeteer
Wonjo Jeong	....	production coordinator: New Zealand
Phillip Millar	....	puppeteer
Richard Mueck	....	puppeteer
James Paul	....	puppeteer

Production Companies

• Chungeorahm Film
• Showbox Entertainment

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution (2007) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Camera Film (2007) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Filmtrade (2007) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Gussi Films (2007) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Indo Overseas Film (2006) (India) (theatrical)
• Kadokawa Herald Pictures (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• MFA Filmdistribution (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• MegaVision (2007) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Nippon Herald Films (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Océan Films (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Optimum Releasing (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Suraya Film Productions (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Atlantic Film (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Bir Film (2006) (Turkey) (all media)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Group Power (2006) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Happinet Corporation (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Magnolia Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Magnolia Magnet (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Notro Films (2006) (Spain) (all media)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2009) (Italy) (all media) (as Enjoy Movies)
• Showbox Entertainment (2006) (South Korea) (all media)

Special Effects

• Orphanage, The (visual effects and animation)
• E.O.N. (computer graphics) (as EON Digital Film)
• Eon Digital Films (computer graphics)
• John Cox's Creature Workshop
• Weta Workshop (creature scannable maquette molding and casting)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• HFR  digital imaging (as Digital Cinema)
• HFR  digital intermediate
• Happinet Corporation  special thanks
• Magno Sound and Video  adr studio
• Milan Records  soundtrack
• Seoul Film Commission  location support
• Sound Dogs  additional audio (as Sounddogs.com)
• Soundtrack  trailer

Also Known As:

The Host (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for creature violence and language.

Runtime:

119 min | Croatia:110 min (DVD)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Malaysia:U | New Zealand:R13 | USA:R | Germany:16 | Australia:M | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 | France:U (with warning) | Brazil:14 | Peru:14 | Mexico:B15 | Canada:14+ | Denmark:15

Filming Locations:

Dong-ho Bridge, Seoul, South Korea

Company:

Chungeorahm Film

Trivia:

The crew of the film used metal barrels to make the splash effects whenever the monster would dive into the water.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Kang-ho Song's character receives a tissue sample, there is no wound in the remaining scenes, even though he was screaming in pain.

Quotes:

US Doctor in Morgue: Mr. Kim,
[running a finger along the counter]
US Doctor in Morgue: I hate dust more than anything.
Young Korean Doctor: Oh, I will clean again.
US Doctor in Morgue: You don't have to clean up now. Why don't you dump this first?
Young Korean Doctor: That's formaline.
US Doctor in Morgue: Formaldehyde, to be precise. To be even more precise, dirty formaldehyde. Every bottle is coated with layers of dust. Pour 'em into the sink.
Young Korean Doctor: Excuse me?
US Doctor in Morgue: Just empty every bottle to the very last drop.
Young Korean Doctor: It's just - They are toxic chemicals, and the regulations state -
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-03-10)" (2007)

Great Entertainment With Brilliant Moments from Bong Jun Ho

The Host is a film that people have been talking about a lot during its production and the teasers and posters I'd seen to date had gotten me pretty interested. So when it was announced for the Edinburgh International Film Festival this year I had to go and see it.

I have to say I was more than impressed with what I saw. The Host is a film that provides something of everything from suspense to terror, from drama to a little touch of comedy, this film has it all. What's more surprising is that it delivers all of them very well and provides great entertainment on the way.

The opening of the film is perhaps one of the strongest I've seen. Starting with introductions to some of the main characters we instantly get a feel for who they are and what they are about, all the time with a healthy amount of humour. The first appearance of the creature is viewed quite satirically, or rather the peoples attitude and "car crash" mentality is.

Then when it races through a busy park attacking people, it's probably the best portrayal of group blind panic I've seen, and coupled with some excellent edge of your seat and distressing scenes. The shot of the girl standing in shock is one of the most disturbing scenes you'll witness, it's not something you'd expect to happen in a typical film and it's indicative of scenes to come.

Throughout the film you'll be toyed with, there are the usual straightforward scares, and one so effective I leapt out of my seat. There are also moments like the opening one at the park, where the unexpected happens and you really do get a surprise at the direction the story has just taken.

There are other similar incredibly strong moments that will hit you with a shock, and they seem out of place and going against what you believe should be happening. I felt myself looking at the screen in surprise thinking "That's not fair!", and that's a great response to illicit.

The frequent humour is an aspect of the story that is really well handled, it never detracts from other areas of the story, and often helps to relax a tense or distressing moment in order for the filmmakers to return to the situation and build it up again. Sneaky devils.

One of the oddest moments is when the family are mourning wildly in the school hall, this begins sadly and slowly, building in your uncomfortableness and sadness. Then something strange happens, they just manage to tip the performance into humour, just enough to lighten the situation and raise a few sniggers. Then photographers and film crews descend and we're presented with an interesting social commentary, yet you're still feeling the humour of the moment and just coming out from the sadness of the family. It's all wonderfully woven together.

The leads are good, particularly the young girl, Park Hyun-seo played by Ah-sung Ko, who is very convincing and strong in character. At times the emotions she shows are so natural and believable, you'll find yourself caught up in her scenes.

The other characters continually walk that fine line between comedic and serious performances. Each of them have their flaws which are shown throughout the film, but in the end each get their chance to redeem themselves and sometimes they get multiple chances, often they need them too.

That raises another interesting aspect, instead of following a standard route with the characters, their development follows the unusual turns of the film itself and we're treated to surprises and failures when we don't really expect them. Indeed you could almost say that these characters are more human than many fully focused dramatic character based films.

The creature effects in this film are quite superb. It has weight and a natural, organic movement. So often CGI creatures will appear to run over the ground or not properly interact and collide with real life objects, here though every effort has been made to address this, and it works superbly.

I don't believe I'm spoiling anything about the movie when I say that the ending seems slightly flat against the amount of entertainment that the rest of the film has managed to deliver. It wraps everything up incredibly neatly, with each character having had their shot at redemption. Yet it was a little too neatly tied up for me, although it didn't detract from anything else the film gave.

I'd recommend this film even for those not interested in Asian Horror, for this can't be classed alongside what you would expect from a typical Asian Horror, indeed there's not even a lot of horror. This is a suspenseful, thriller, drama, comedy, you're getting the idea. It's great entertainment with some brilliant moments of shock and terror. Well worth watching.