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There are three stages of life: the living, the dead, and the undead. Zombie films have become fan favorites to watch for Halloween, sleepovers, and movie nights, but with so many options to choose from which flick could earn the title of “The Ultimate Zombie Film?” Allow me the honor to bestow Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan. In a genre that typically focuses on gore, violence, and power-struggles, Train to Busan instead brings attention to human relationships and communication. Challenging the genre tropes to create a more reflective audience is how Train to Busan successfully stands out.
The Evolution Of Zombie Horror
Before there were films being made about rotting corpses roaming the Earth, there was Haitian culture that became folklore. In Haitian culture, a voodoo priest would give a person poisonous powder, bury, and unearth them to become a mindless follower. These practices inspired the first zombie film, White Zombie, released in 1932. However, it wasn’t until 1968 when Romero’s Night of the Living Dead reshaped the concept into what we recognize the genre as today.
Zombie films are generally categorized under the horror genre but have branched out into others such as thriller, comedy, and even romance. Films have even glanced at different points of view to the zombie apocalypse: the survivors, the infected, and the CDC. What remains constant in each film is large amounts of gore, disfiguration, and human miscommunication. That was until Train to Busan premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.
Changing The Rules
Train to Busan has taken a classic band of survivors and tossed them into an entirely new zombie situation. Most zombie films have people equipped with guns, knives, and the occasional ax. However, on this train, the only weapon available, by chance, is a baseball bat. To further the restrictions in place, characters are confined to a train that has no safe location to stop. Other movies will at least bring survivors into the woods with more options to hide or a store to loot for items necessary for survival.
With the loss of weapons and locations came a positive addition — technology. In Train to Busan survivors have access to their cell phones, providing them with internet and the ability to contact the outside for help. While it has given them an advantage at times to escape hoards of the undead, nothing can compare to weapons to halt the running zombies. That’s right, running zombies. Train to Busan’s functioning corpses retain their speed despite their lack of intelligence. At least one thing is true to the genre; the zombies won’t eat you if they can’t see or hear you.
Reflection Of Humanity
The largest aspect of what makes Train to Busan the ultimate zombie movie is its attention to characters and society. It does have its fair share of violence and blood, but audiences leave the film reflecting on the social commentary instead of an action scene where the zombie was axed in the head. If you’ve never experienced crying during a zombie movie, prepare yourself for a whole new experience.
Be A Decent Human Being
In a situation like an apocalypse, it is every man for himself and given the time it seems an acceptable frame of mind. Train to Busan sheds light on the fact that, unfortunately, people have the same thought on life when there is no crisis. After the initial outbreak of the virus in the train, a young Su-an gives up her seat to an elderly woman when she notices there is no other.
In response, her father, Seok-woo, tells her she doesn’t need to be so nice and to look out for herself first. Su-an claims that the woman reminded her of her grandmother, who suffers back pain, and decided she needed the seat more. If a child can be considerate in the face of danger, what stops people from being kind daily?
Sacrifices are nothing new in zombie films, but they do enforce the message of being a righteous person. The first sacrifice of the movie is Sung-kyung, who was bitten during the attempt to close access to a train car from the zombies. Even after being infected, he fights many of them off and uses his whole body as a shield until losing consciousness.
He sacrificed himself not only for his wife and unborn child but for Su-an, a homeless man, a teenager, an elderly woman, and a seemingly selfish Seok-woo. Heroes are strong people who emerge in times of crisis to fight for those who are weaker, but this should extend itself into people’s day-to-day lives. The strong should always help those who need it because it is the right thing to do.
Fear Drives Action
Everyone knows that fear is a powerful emotion that can cause people to react in ways they usually wouldn’t, but it doesn’t excuse the actions taken. When face-to-face with the living dead it is common that fear consumes the masses to make brash and often bad decisions. The character Yon-suk embodies the negative actions that fear brings by sacrificing the unwilling lives of others in order to save himself. His biggest achievement however, is using other passengers’ fears to ostracize the small group of survivors who fought tooth and nail for safety.
When high schooler Jin-hee alerts passengers that her friend and the small group he is with are on their way to join them, she is forced into silence and restrained from helping them gain access to the car. She was asked why her friends deserved special treatment when no one knew what was happening to their own families. Fear elicits other emotions to run high, clouding people’s judgments. Instead of transforming into monsters, people must stop and assess a situation. Fear shouldn’t be an excuse to devalue human lives, especially when so many are in danger.
Value Relationships
All relationships (platonic, romantic, and familial) take work, and at times are difficult to keep. Train to Busan pulls great attention to relationships as all characters are grouped with someone. The most notable, as it includes the main character, is the father-daughter relationship of Seok-woo and Su-an. Before the end of the world, Seok-woo worked long hours, often missing out on Su-an’s life.
In addition, Seok-Woo is newly separated and seeking a divorce. Tensions between the two were high as Su-an felt neglected. The danger of the undead brought an opportunity for communication where Su-an expressed her desire to have more contact with her father and allowed Seok-woo to show his determination to protect his daughter.
In life-or-death situations, the importance of people seems to be quite clear. The elderly woman who squabbled with her older sister found herself incomplete without her once she was lost. The baseball player who was irritated by the girl who had a crush on him suddenly felt responsible for her safety. It shouldn’t take dire circumstances to showcase how important someone is to you. It shouldn’t take the threat of death to put aside trivial disagreements. Now, while you’re living, is the time to cherish the bonds you have and communicate that to others.
What’s Next?
Train to Busan is awarded the “Ultimate Zombie Film” not for its depiction of walking corpses or violent action scenes, but for the potential it brings for the zombie genre. People may think that all zombie movies are for entertainment, but with such close encounters with death, it allows insight into the human mind. Hopefully, future zombie films will delve deeper into evaluating humanity as their main objective.
Speaking of future zombie films, Yeon Sang-ho is directing Peninsula, the sequel to Train to Busan. Set to be released on July 30, 2020, the film follows a team of soldiers into a post-apocalyptic world. If you can’t wait that long, satisfy yourself by watching Seoul Station, the animated first film of the series.