20 Apr Train to Busan (2016)

Ahead of schedule

This is simply a hectic escape film, where all the attention is toward anticipating where the viewer thinks it is going and staying a half step ahead. I’d say it is remarkable in how well it succeeds; I cannot recall it ever being done as well. Just on that score, we should celebrate the cinematic mastery and the resulting experience.

The magic is in the events as they were imagined, and then realised. The blocking and editing is extraordinary. I do not know how they managed the actual zombies, because most of them behave in ways impossible for a human actor.

Along the way are woven two story lines that strike more deeply at Koreans than this old Anglo. The first is preservation of the race by protecting the innocents. Everything in these represented societal groups fades away, so a young and an unborn child can survive.

Another story line is so prevalent in Korean films I worry. This is the tendency to protect your interests at the cost not just of society, but specific representatives that you have to look in the face and essentially kill. ‘Concrete Utopia’ has this as its spine, with the special effects secondary — sort of a complement to this.

For me, these messages distract. I am willing to be transported and manipulated by tense anticipation. But I hope there is something I can value at the end instead of a bungy jump by itself.

Posted in 2024

Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

IMDB