Yum, Korean Set of 'The Host' Is Nice, And It's Sooner Than Expected.

Anyway, couple of issues related to this, in that I had a slight, not entirely great, but still interesting moment of clarity over the New Year, in that it's generally the rule that a countries own domestic presentation of a film is likely to be the best piece of work once it arrives on DVD - picture, sound, other additional content too -because who's going have the same concerns over the primary audience's opinion over the work given over to it? Okay, doesn't entirely stick, but it's a general rule and not a specific 'in all cases' rule because we know that there have been some good examples that contradict this, but in general...oh for the days where all these additional discs appear on another addition, with English Subtitles included.

We kind of found some of these things out when Tartan openly talked about the issues of licensing on the Extras for a release sometime last year, 'Lady Vengeance' I think it was (for their R1 USA DVD of it), and because an awful lot of people still put a lot of importance on elements in DVD releases other than the film (for various reasons - I still think they're a distraction from the key issues which aren't entirely dealt with) and we're also still at the mercy of English Subtitles driving what it's possible to select for viewing. There's a whole heap of eternal issues surrounding that whole thing I don't want to even begin to think about.

Anyway, since this has been something of a crossover hit, in that it's making it's way into the minds of those with some interest (but not necessarily a regular interest) in films from outside of the USA, I also think it's worth mentioning what's usually unspoken about watching foreign films, because you know it's going to be generally understood that different criteria, situations, qualities all require an adjusted understanding when viewing. I do think is a very grey area that can lead to crossover films being judged on terms other than those that are usually applied to it... the thing is, we all have subconcious expectations of films according to what we're used to watching most regularly, we may also suddenly become more concious of our expectations when we're taking-in something we know is likely (or clearly) different. A Korean Monster Movie, for example. 'The Host', for example.

A good film, not perfect, but by comparison to Korean Cinema it has higher production considerations to leap upto, a bigger budget to manage, a larger sense of scale (though still maintains the usual intimacy) and so likely to appear to demand judging on the same terms of films it seems to share characteristics with on the surface that have been made in entirely different circumstances. It's one of the reasons for films failing to chime with viewers in a way which doesn't necessarily warrant a later reassesment of the film and how much you enjoyed it, and that's fair enough, but it's a necessary consideration whatever you're watching - that judging someone else on your terms isn't exactly fair, or accurate, but it's understandable.

Todd's review here.
Opus' review here.

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