Train to Busan, the most popular blockbuster in South Korea this year, also has Chinese subtitles. It has been blasted on all kinds of screens these days, including Weibo, Douban, and WeChat Moments, with people exclaiming everywhere. In addition to continuing to praise the film as exciting and exciting, more hot topics are focused on the comparison between Chinese and Korean movies: various WeChat titles basically use this as the title, such as Korean movies beating Chinese movies in seconds, Chinese movies have to kneel down, Korean movies lead Chinese movies by how many years, etc...
Although I expected "Train to Busan" to be very popular in the Mainland, I didn't expect it to be so popular. The current Douban evaluation is like this:
In just a few days, the number of viewers has reached nearly 50,000, with a score of 8.3
Speaking of which, I was one of the first viewers in the world to watch "Train to Busan" because the film was shortlisted for the Cannes midnight screening in May, and the official release in South Korea was only in July.
Also, in Cannes, I received the wrong message.
Because "Train to Busan" was shown at midnight, and it happened to be very busy that day. So I chose to watch the second screening the next day in the afternoon. According to viewers who watched the midnight premiere, the film was uninteresting and very cliche.
So, when I watched "Train to Busan", my expectations were not high.
However, the whole movie-watching process was still very relaxing, tense, exciting, and visually spectacular. It was still very enjoyable to watch such a pure genre film in Cannes. Therefore, my evaluation of the film at the time was also [Better than expected. Although the zombie mode of "World War Z" inevitably contains many routines and malicious sensationalism, the thrilling atmosphere is still quite accurate ]
To put it into perspective, it was precisely because I received the wrong information that I expected an ultra-low entry and thought it would be better than expected. Moreover, the level of excitement will be very high when watching this kind of zombie movie on the big screen.
However, I am still a little surprised that this film is so popular in China and has been praised by all kinds of praises. It is called a Korean blockbuster that crushes Chinese films. Maybe we are really annoyed by the bad domestic movies this summer.
Of course, "Train to Busan" is indeed very beautiful, there is no doubt about it. After reading the Chinese version for the second time, I will still be attracted by the plot. This is a highly watchable and entertaining film.
In South Korea, "Train to Busan" has also become the most popular movie this year, and has become the first phenomenal blockbuster to have over 10 million moviegoers this year, and this number is still rising.
From a type perspectiveIn terms of scale, this is South Korea's first disaster movie with zombies as the protagonist. It is really unimaginable that it can sell like this. In the past, Korean blockbusters were more focused on crime, costume or war themes. This is equivalent to the development of a new genre field, and there should be more works that follow suit in the future. Until now, the blockbuster theme that Korean movies have not touched much is actually science fiction. I don’t know when it will touch upon it. After all, the mainland will start touching it soon.
The biggest feature of "Train to Busan", or what impressed me the most, is the zombie marching mode. It is different from our common Western zombie movies. The most common zombie movies mostly follow the setting of "Night of the Living Dead" from the George Romero era
We basically have a cognitive rule for normal zombie movies,
For example, when humans resurrect from the dead, they become zombies;
As long as you are bitten by a zombie, you will turn into a zombie no matter where you bite;
Zombies do not bite their own kind, but only feed on humans or other living creatures;
Zombies can only be killed by headshots, and destroying other parts is useless;
Zombies are mostly slow moving.
Basically, the zombie movies we watch will follow these laws. This makes it easier for the audience to enter the plot, and there is no need to explain it again.
It should be in the previous movie "World War Z" that we saw a new form of zombies. They no longer moved slowly, but ran like crazy
Due to moving too fast, something like a mountain of corpses may even be formed. The scene is quite spectacular.
"Train to Busan" also borrows the zombie action mode from "World War Z", with a group of fast-running and extremely ferocious zombies. Feel it:
Very visually impressive zombie swarm
To deal with traditional zombies, you can actually escape by running a few steps faster. Like in "Shaun of the Dead", you can even imitate zombies and play pranks.
Favorite passage from "Shaun of the Dead"
For zombies like "Train to Busan", you only have to run for your life. If you run slowly, you will be bitten immediately, which is very scary.
Although it is the first time to produce a zombie theme on such a large scale, "Train to Busan" has been done very carefully and methodically. Including the zombie makeup in the film, all of which were done with great care
Because this is a zombie-themed film, a large number of extras will be used. The special makeup team performs makeup on an average of about 20-40 people every day. In the scene at Daejeon Station, hundreds of people were used to makeup into zombies. As for the key supporting roles, it takes dozens of minutes.
Including the male lead of the film, Kong Liu, also said that the real protagonists of the film are actually the zombies, and they are also the ones doing the hard work. They underwent high-intensity training for three months. Even so, because they were all wearing zombie makeup, it was basically impossible to recognize who was who.
In other words, you finally acted in a drama, and it was a popular drama. As a result, even your mother can’t recognize you, which is also heartbreaking
For the unique movements of the zombies, a choreographer was specially invited. After six months of choreography, the zombies have a unique set of zombie movements. Their beauty and uniqueness should be felt by you in the movie.
A little tidbit is that the people who directed the zombie action acting in "Train to Busan" and the dancing master of Lao Huang in "The Cry" were choreographer Park Jae-in. And the music director of both films is Jang Young-kyu.
So, do you feel similar dance moves in these two movies?
Including the visual part, great care is taken. Among the 1,800 shots in "Train to Busan", 600 are CG shots. 100 people were involved in just making the CG. At the same time, because it is impossible to shoot in an actual KTX, in order to reflect the settings of the KTX and the speed of 300 kilometers per hour, many parts require special effects.
South Korea’s CG technology has always been very good, especially Chinese-language blockbusters that have invited many Korean CG technical teams to help. Now, with the help of CG, local movies can naturally achieve more shocking effects.
Of course, technical advantages are all auxiliary conditions. How to tell stories accurately and effectively is what needs to be solved most.
The Korean director Yeon Sang-ho, who was born in 1978, has been an animation director before. If you have paid attention to Korean independent animation or the Cannes Film Festival, you may have heard of his name. The previous "King of Pigs" and "Simultaneous" all came from him
"Train to Busan" is the first live-action feature film he directed. It has achieved both box office and word-of-mouth success, which is very rare.
In fact, live-action movies and animated movies are completely different concepts. Relatively speaking, animated films may have greater control, while live-action films have to face various changes and situations and make timely adjustments. The advantage is that live-action movies can have many clever ideas and try many times to finally choose the most suitable one. Just like the shocking zombie carpet at the end, it was the director's last-minute idea. As a result, the effect is quite good!
With excellent technical support, excellent special effects makeup, and dedicated extras, what else do you need?
Of course it is a reliable story, the plot must be attractive, the character description must have human depth, and at the same time, there must be emotional clues that resonate with the audience. Although "Train to Busan" does have many routines and sensational aspects, it still firmly grasps the above aspects.
After only ten minutes of preparation, the film reaches a small climax. Zombies begin to appear. The next nearly 100 minutes are basically zombies eating people, escaping, and fighting. The climax is also one after another, which looks very enjoyable.
The train is a very interesting space. On the one hand, it is close to a confined space, which allows many plot developments to become dramatic and follow certain rules. At the same time, the train is like a small society. The composition of the people here can be very complex. Regardless of wealth or age, people from all walks of life can be restricted to this small confined space and create new relationships between characters.
The social reference or criticism that the film needs to present can also be carried out in this little train.
When the zombie crisis emerged, many changes occurred in the relationships between people.
All zombie movies are actually similar and have their own script patterns:
From the beginning, there was fear of zombies, zombies eating people, and humans running for their lives.
After that, humans adapted to the zombie world and began to organize resistance to fight against the zombies and gain new opportunities.
In the end, it is never the zombies that threaten us, but other survivors.
The American TV series "The Walking Dead" that has used this routine most effectively must be the one who used it most.After so many seasons, the routines are almost exhausted
The Walking Dead has been canceled for so many seasons, are the real enemies the zombies?
Never, but the surviving humans. For the sake of desire and resources, the confrontation between people is the theme.
The same goes for "Train to Busan". What is really scary is not the dead people who become zombies, but those who are still alive, and in order to survive, they are more terrifying than zombies
The emergence of zombies has completely destroyed the traditional, civilized and humane social order. It has become a selfish, barbaric dark order where everyone is for himself and just wants to survive.
"Train to Busan" also operates under this order. In order to survive, can you be cruel enough to sacrifice the lives of other innocent people?
This kind of dark setting is the director's consistent hobby, and it also makes the whole film more humane, rather than just a mindless zombie film.
And in this barbaric and dark order, there will always be people who can persist in themselves and retain the remaining humanity, which becomes the other side of the film and a touching moment.
Although the thought in this is very common, it is also done with care.
As for the actors, the male protagonist played by Gong Liu (I also learned from them, not named Gong Yoo) has obvious personality changes from a cold-blooded fund manager who neglects his family for work to the final transformation. The emotional line between him and his daughter may also have touched many people. The changes in his character make this character fuller and more real. From the beginning, he was also a very selfish person, the one who wanted to shut out others. Compared to the final plot... there are many changes.
After "The Crucible", Gong Yoo collaborated with Jung Yumi again, which is also an interesting point to watch.
Of course, the actor who steals the show the most is Ma Dong-seok
The tough, tender and most trustworthy muscular man. It is said that his character setting in the film is to open a fighting dojo, so it is more reasonable for him to perform a series of action scenes.
A generation of golden supporting actors has finally become a scene-stealing king, very reliable, and has the best boyfriend power
Look at these big muscles. His character is interesting and trustworthy, a very secure strong man.
The little brother Choi Woo-sik is also very cute
In addition, there is a little easter egg in this film. I was so stupid that I didn't even notice it in Cannes. The first infected person who ran onto the train was actually a star.
That's the cute girl Shim Eun-kyung
I really didn't recognize the girl from "Strange She" and "Sunny Sisters".
In the animation "Seoul Station", a companion piece to "Train to Busan", Shim Eun-kyung also participated in the dubbing. In the director's next new film, Shim Eun-kyung will also star, completely tied to the director.
The story of "Seoul Station" takes place a little before "Train to Busan". It is also about the outbreak of an unknown zombie virus. It is a story of another group of people. "Seoul Station" actually also has resources and Chinese subtitles. Those who like "Train to Busan" can also pay attention to this cartoon. However, "Train to Busan" is actually better.
Having said so much, how many years are Korean films ahead of Chinese films?
I don’t know how many years!
However, except for the zombie theme, we can’t touch it for the time being. There is a gap between us and others in terms of technology, actors, concepts, professionalism, script quality, and director ability. It is said that the cost of this film is less than 60 million yuan? Okay
Importantly, this is the first live-action film by a new director. All right.
You can also watch a behind-the-scenes video of the film, with Chinese subtitles, to get a feel for the production
Forget it, let’s not talk about that, let’s end with a brighter ending.
Finally, thank you @nuanqingKr and her #SOKM translation group#, some of the information is quoted from their translation
