‘Train to Busan’ is a south korean zombie apocalypse action thriller action film directed by Yeon Sang-Ho and starring Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, and Kim Eui-sung. The film mostly takes place on a train to Busan, as a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out in the country and compromises the safety of the passengers. The themes of this film include family, selfishness and sacrifice, and the guilt that can come with professional success.
The film begins as most zombie films do, with the status quo. Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a workaholic fund manager and absentee father who in a rare act of attentiveness, agrees to take his young daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) on a train to Busan to spend the week with her mother. They board a train along with the big guy named Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi), a homeless man, a rich COO named Yon-suk (Kim Eui-sung) and a young baseball team travelling for a game.
One zombie on the train does what zombies do, and there are eventually many zombies. The rules for these zombies are pretty standard. Bitten individuals who die will return as the undead, and those who do not die are afflicted with the virus and they will turn into zombies in a short period of time. From the movie, it is clearly seen that the zombies are moving very fast, they pile over each other in the cramped space and the film’s set-pieces, when the train does on the occasion stop, are breathtakingly inventive and truly scary. Unlike the american zombie film, they’re moving very slow and the people who got bitten will take a long period of time to become a zombie. Besides that, the media also plays a huge role for the current event updates and newsworthy stories in the film.
From the movie, we can see both the costumes and the special effects makeup add to the narrative by pointing out the backstory to the characters, as well as how it affects them in the plot.
For instance, Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) has an expertly crafted costume and a curly formal hairstyle. When introduced, his blue colour suit coat is very reminiscent of a bathrobe, giving him an atmospheric feel of bum hood. Later shedding his coat, he proves to be otherwise; he is strong, muscular and becomes a hero that an audience cannot help but love.
Furthermore, the outfit of Su-an reveals the most dynamic backstory of any character in the film. Being the child of a broken home, she lost her innocent views of the world at a young age. Through most of the film, she is seen wearing a light grey shirt covered by a dark crimson cardigan. A direct reflection of her once pure view of the world, now dirtied by the black relationship of her parents, the clothes are a direct foreshadowing of how this lifestyle is soon covered by the blood of strangers, furthering the destruction of her childhood.
When it comes to the acting, casting is one of the significant elements to take into consideration in the zombie film. This is because actors bring the script and the director’s idea into reality. Yon-suk (Kim Eui-sung) may be the most obvious example. Yon-suk represents the most odiously cruel aspects of the work-focused culture in South korea. He is a man obsessed with saving himself, only cares about himself and despite the terrible situation never shies away from judging his fellow passengers based on their social status. From the movie, we can see that he predictably acts in a selfish manner, causing the death of several people by sacrificing the wellbeing of those he deems “less” than himself.
When some survivors attempt to reach the carriage that Yon-suk and some group members are taking refuge in, he forbids it and stating that they could be infected and that it’s too dangerous. One key thing to note here is that he doesn’t actually act himself, but rather commands the group members of the train to act for him. This parallels a growing problem in South Korea, where the media kowtows to government demands, and corporations hold the true power. Besides that, when Yon-suk directs the train people to lock the doors, he places his own ‘value’ above all others, while the people of the train are willing to bend to his demands. Through the movie, we would perhaps see that it represents that complex, immoral connection government, media and business have in South Korean society. By the end of the film, Yon-suk has become a reflection of the monster that Seok-woo once was. Besides that, Seok-woo (su-an’s father), represents that manner too, but in a different case. His character arc allows him to come to an understanding of himself, and his wrongdoings. He eventually realises that his daughter is the most important part of his life, after early-on in the film informing her to “only look after yourself” in a statement that seemed ominously detached from her. He is not innocent, however. It is heavily implied in the film that he is indirectly responsible for the continued outbreak, through his greed when he is selling shares at the company that just had a chemical leak. Realising this, he breaks down and attempts to wash the blood off his hands that has come from zombies, who have become a manifestation of guilt and revenge for the deaths he is responsible for.
Moreover, the film is also full of people who understand their social responsibility and work to help others. To quote an example, the pregnant couple stand as moral compasses in the film, representing the height of guidance for Su-an, who witnesses developments with watchful eyes. From the film, it is clearly seen that the couple are tough and unyielding, who understand the severe situation and have an empathy for those around them that need it. Their actions throughout the film, as well as saving themselves, are also generally for the greater good of the group as a whole. The director places them in situations where their actions naturally benefit more people than themselves.
All words in one, Train to Busan does to wrench some genuine emotion out of the viewer. It showcases some good work on directing, characters, visual elements and scenario, making it a movie which stands out among other movies with similar themes. There are powerful character moments that make you feel the deaths more than you would in the standard zombie fare. This is the first “zombie movie with heart” that I’ve never ever watched before. It may seem like a peculiar genre descriptor, but it certainly fits Train to Busan. It’s hard to innovate in a zombie film, but Train to Busan does a pretty good job of feeling fresh.
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