International Inspiration: Train To Busan
I hate Zombie films! Yes, I’ll say it the zombie is my least favorite movie monster ever. I am not on “The Walking Dead” bandwagon and I hated most of the Dead films done by Romero. So, when I find one of these films that I enjoy I go through many emotions. Am I going crazy? How? Did someone put something in my drink? Why? and that’s the question that is most important. Most of the time (99%) it is because the movie is more like a film with zombies in it as opposed to a zombie movie with a story. It is even rarer for me to consider a film of this genre just that a film. However, this is exactly the case with “Train to Busan” on both points (FYI: Busanhaeng, is its Korean title). This film, released originally in South Korea in 2016, is about more than flesh-eating hooligans rampaging across the countryside. The story follows a single dad who is a workaholic and his daughter on a train ride to visit the child’s mother on the girls birthday. Simple story, right. Wrong!
The story is not so one dimensional. The screenplay is so well written you almost forget about the zombie quotient and are enthralled with each of the relationships individual dynamics. The story, though primarily focused on the Father/Daughter characters, does along the way of this ill-fated train ride introduce you to other relationships through different characters thrown in the path of the two. Each relationship is in a different stage and each carries its own emotional connection with the audience. I will freely admit that thanks to the writing (and actors portrayals of the characters) I found myself crying more than once, that’s right while watching a zombie movie. I truly appreciate the fact that the writer allowed the story to drive the characters' survival, unlike the typical Hollywood horror film (spoiler alert a lot of the characters you grow to love die!). The actors deliver the screenwriters vision with precision, for me, unseen in this genre. The emotion that the actors brought to the true story was marvelous, serving to add to the fear and audiences attachment to each character.
In the end, you pay very little attention to the technical aspects of this film. Even though the makeup is good and the directing is fantastic the true hero of this story is the writing and delivery of the writers intent. If you are looking for a great film with a lot of emotion that just happens to have hordes of flesh-eating zombies then take a look at “Train to Busan”. [Note: It is subtitled so if your not a fan of that I say just try it. It does not detract from the film at all] In the end though as always this is only my geekin’ opinion, check it out and let me know what you think.
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