Join us for a screening of The Host by director Bong Joon-Ho.
Make it stand out
Synopsis:
An American military base of Yongson releases toxic chemicals in the drain to the Han River under the direct order of an arrogant U.S. Army coroner. Six years later, a mutant squid monster leaves the water and attacks people on the side of the river.
Programmer Statement:
“They’re covered in dust.”
That was all it took for the American surgeon to decide, and order, his South Korean subordinate to pour dozens upon dozens of bottles of toxic chemicals into a sink leading straight into the Han River. The bottles were covered in dust. His subordinate protests the safety of his orders. The American doesn’t care, and as we pan across the emptied bottles, they dissolve into S. Korean fishermen lining the Han River. This is Bong Joon Ho’s The Host. It’s a monster movie. It also happens to feature a giant man-eating fish mutant.
In 2025 Alaska, where we can’t even fish the Kenai River due to the damage unregulated American industry has had on our natural resources and sustainable future, Bong Joon Ho’s The Host feels like empathy, validation, and rage, relevant as much today as it was in 2007.
In celebration of Bong’s latest release, Mickey 17, and to usher in our new community series: Asian Cinema Club Alaska, it felt only appropriate to celebrate one of our greatest living Asian filmmakers and the master of the tonal rollercoaster. Few filmmakers today can have you silently sitting through a jaw-dropping, heartbreaking shock death, only to have our protagonists sitting on a ceiling-high toilet for cell phone reception in a shit-flooded apartment, or an investigator flying through the air to sidekick a suspect. Bong never sacrifices entertainment to make a point, but his points will hit and they will be sharp and savage, and sometimes hilarious.
Enjoy The Host.
Joshua Albeza Branstetter
Light refreshments will be provided. An opportunity for Q&A will follow afterwards.
This event is free and open to the public.
