JeoungEun (Judy) Park

Prof. Rosetta Brooks

Monstrous Futures

8 December 2017

Final Paper: Train to Busan

As technology improves, science-fiction movies and TV series have become greatly

common amongst us. Science-fiction films have gained great popularity since the 1960s as it led

the way into special effects technology. Unlike any other genres of films such as romance,

comedy, and horror, science-fiction provokes the viewers imaginations as we fantasize about our

future such as flying cars, smart houses, and robots. Not only is this genre about our imagination

of our future but it is also about how that technology is going to influence us and our society.

Train to Busan is a South Korean film directed by Sang-Ho Yeon. It was released in 2016

and upon its release, it became one of the most popular movies in the theaters as it also

premiered in the CGV theaters here in Los Angeles. The film is about a zombie invasion that

starts off in Seoul, South Korea and spreads throughout the entire nation. Within hours, the

zombie invasion spreads quickly as it also effects the KTX train ride from Seoul to Busan. Seok-

Woo, the main protagonist, is a fund manager who is on his way to Busan to take Su-An, his

daughter, to her mother in Busan. The train ride is quite casual until one zombie jumps on at the

last moment. As she transforms, she bites the female train assistant and from then on, sections of

the train become quickly infected and full of zombies.

 Though the film is portrayed as the classic zombie movie where everyone runs away

from the undead monsters and tries to survive, there are several historical and political references

involved. For instance, the film starts off with a farmer driving a truck as he complains to the

man in the sanitary lab suit who was trying to cover up a chemical leak in the plantation. The

farmer yells at him in great anger and worry that they might kill their animals (like pigs,

chickens, and ducks) again. Recently in Korea, there has been several cases of the AI, the Avian

Influenza that causes birds to become sick with a virus. As an excuse, the government has been

killing all these animals. However, the reality is that the government purposely spreads the

influenza and kills the animals once in a while to cover up a political issue. As a result, the

citizens become more concerned of the much higher prices they have to pay for these food

ingredients and health issues for Koreans are obsessed with healthy, organic ingredients. Though

the worries of the citizens are not expressed, the farmer expresses his anger for it is even more so

of a devastating situation for them.

Also, the opening plays an important part of the movie as it foreshadows how it will be

played out. As the farmer in the truck yells at the man in the white sanitary lab suit, he hits a

deer. Surprised by the accident, he gets off and determines that it is dead. However, once he

drives away, the deer comes back to life and walks away as though nothing ever happened. This

strange act of the deer coming back to life, foreshadows what will happen to humans as they

evolve into zombies. It is as though the deer is a metaphor of the process of the evolution of

humans into zombies.

After the opening, the movie quickly transitions as Seok-woo gets on the train to hell with

his daughter, Su-An. From a single infected passenger who got on at the last moment, the zombie
virus quickly spread. As people rapidly evolve into zombies, the humans strive for survival and

Seok-woo fights for the safety of Su-an. Amongst the characters, there are various bonds and

emotions involved and so the film is more emotional and humane as the actors show why they

need to survive or sacrifice. This film is not about the typical zombie invasion. In comparison to

most science fiction, zombie movies like The Walking Dead and Dawn of the Dead, Train to

Busan is played out in a more romantic version as it shows various emotions, relationships, and

bondage.

The idea of the men sacrificing themselves for the sake of their family is shown greatly

by the main protagonist. Sang-Hwa sacrificed his life as he let the zombies attack him once he

was bitten. Until the very moment he actually became a zombie, he fought for the others to keep

his pregnant wife safe in particular. He fought to protect the family that he had and the family

that he was soon going to have. Like Sang-Hwa, Seok-woo sacrificed his life for the sake of his

daughter. The only reason why he was so desperate to survive, was because of his daughter. Once

he was bitten, he locked himself out in great sadness and as he was evolving, he thought of the

happiest memory which was when Su-an was born. Until the very end, he thought of her as he

jumped off the train. These feelings of love and bonds prove to be stronger than fear and unlike

the antagonist who had a very strong urge to survive, there is still the good of humanity left. Not

all people are too greedy to not care for others.

Science-fiction films are made from the imagination of what the world will become and

how it will change our society. This particular film focuses on the meaning of humanity as they

show obvious distinctions between zombies and human. In Train to Busan, the zombies do not

eat other humans but instead they just bite other humans to create a group of their own. The
zombies do not seem to have greed but just desire on person, the human that they see. They do

not have any knowledge for they do not even know how to open a door. Instead of acting in

logical ways, all they do is crash into the doors when they see a human on the other side and

once the window is covered, they stop for it is not an obvious goal that they can predict. While

these monster strive for one goal that can be achieved, humans have one goal to survive. Though

the goal is unsure, yet we try so hard for it. We try for the things that we do not know we can

have. We have greed and strong desire.

Not only does the film define what humanity is but, there is a also a reference to Korean

history. In the end, the two survivors (Su-an and Seong-Kyung) reach Busan that is fully

barricaded with the army force as soldiers shoot anyone they assume to be infected by the

zombie virus. In the 1950s, the Korean War happened as South Korea was attacked by North

Korea. Though the entire South Korean land was invaded, Busan was the only safe place left of

the South Korean land. Busan is the furthest part of the country. Everyone was cornered in that

small city until they were able to gain land and more power again. Just like how Busan was the

only shelter during the Korean War, it was also the only safe place for people to take shelter in

the nation-wide crisis.

Though it has been a more than a year since the release of this film, it is being noticed

again. Recently there was an incident of a zombie attack in Seoul. On November 10th, a

Vietnamese tourist broke into a home and bit the Korean resident in the middle of the night. It is

assumed that he took the zombie drugs at his hotel room where he bit his own mother, showed

great range just from seeing the presence of humans, and constantly slammed the doors of the

other hotel guests. From there, he ran out to the streets where he broke into a random home by
creaking the windows using his head. Having gained entry, he tackled the surprised man who

woke up from the sound of the crash. Though the man was not seriously injured, the woman

(presumably the wife) who witnessed the struggle tried to stop it and in the process she was

bitten to the point where a portion of her flesh came off. Even after this attack, Vietnamese man

showed strange acts as he was praying, taking his clothes off, and making weird noises in the

back seat of the police car.

As a result of this accident, people presume that Korea will be the first country to go

under a zombie attack. Though it may not be in the form of a virus, they predict that flakka will

be the cause of it. In Korea, flakka (zombie drugs) is very cheap and there are always ways to get

access to drugs just like the Vietnamese tourist. Also, South Korea is a very small country and so

the invasion will spread in great speed once it starts. Not only will the speed be unstoppable but

so will the zombies. Like seen in the film, there is no way to actually kill the monsters. Korea

does not allow firearm and so there is no way to fully kill them.

Though Train to Busan is a very romanticized version of a zombie movie, there is still

fear being expressed throughout. Overall, this film uses the monster theory, the theory that

symbolizes monsters as the expressions of cultural instability that influences the society, to

define what humanity is in relation to the Korean society. The Korean society has become selfish

as there is a saying, As long as it is not me. However, this film proves that there is still

humanity left and that there is hope to creating a better world.