Korea’s summer hit faces uphill battle in Japan

’The Host’ opens in unreceptive Japanese market

The South Korean summer hit "The Host" (gwaemul, or "monster," in Korean) was released in Japan on Saturday to a lukewarm reception. While Japanese critics gave it good marks, box office reciepts placed it seventh in sales on opening weekend. The Host was screened at 250 cinemas in Japan.

The lackluster performance of the South Korean blockbuster has shades of the last Korean movie’s performance in Japan, "Typhoon" (Taepung), which was a hit in its home country but failed to garner interest once exported.

Most Japanese media outlets gave The Host a favorable reception. The Asahi Shimbun highly praised the movie’s suspense, realistic effects, and humor. "The movie boldly adds a new axis to conventional monster movies," reported the Japanese daily. "Sharp criticism of modern culture is hidden in the film’s art, and the movie is a symbol of director Bong Joon-ho’s awareness of the times. The last scene is extremely suggestive and it leaves viewers touched by both fear and sorrow," added the newspaper.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "Director Bong completely reversed the common [thematic strand] of monster movies. The movie has an overwhelming power, reflecting the present vigor of Korean films." The Tokyo Shimbun said that "The Host presents feelings different from those of Hollywood horror movies. Viewers can’t take their eyes off the movie because they cannot guess its ending."

Lee Jin-sook, director of Chungeorahm Film, which produced and distributes The Host, said, "The media had favorable comments about the film before its release in Japan and the movie won high recognition from moviegoers, but that was not enough to attract viewers to the theaters. In Japan, monster movies traditionally are highly popular, so we focused on that aspect when we publicized The Host. The result was far from our expectations."

Film critic Kim Bong-sok pointed out the declining popularity of monster movies in Japan, saying, "Younger viewers’ taste has changed. In addition, The Host is very popular in Korea because it [taps into a] unique emotional and cultural background that strongly appeals to Koreans. Therefore, foreign viewers face a difficult approach to the film, compared to the clear, straightforward nature of Hollywood films."