Train to Busan - Making you care

After having re-watched this movie, I cannot explain my love for this film. The pitch of the film can mislead people to think that this is just some disposable B-movie with zombies in it. But it is so much more than that. It's a zombie film that emotionally engages you, and that's really saying something. 

Our protagonist is Seok-Woo, and we know him to be a fund manager, and doesn't get enough time to spend with his daughter Soo-An. He's divorced, and Soo-An wishes to go see her mother who's living in Busan. This is a great introduction because it launch to the external plot of the film, as well as sets up our main characters and their flaws and relationships. 

The film's setting and location is also effectively used. Since most of the film takes place within a train, it gives the film a much more focused feel. The characters can only go in one direction. It gives it an onward trajectory. The zombies are terrifying creatures, and they're portrayed as such. I am simply astonished at how this film uses the usual zombie tropes, but also manages to craft a masterful story. 

The stakes are set up. If a zombie bites you, you become infected, lose control and become one of them. But all this wouldn't matter if you didn't care about the characters. Since the film takes the time to make you empathise with them, we're worried for them. We want for them to be safe, and somehow make it out of the situations they're in. 

The zombies are bloody, fast and rough. They provide for an extremely tough antagonistic force for our main characters. You hear every moment, scream and bone crunch. There were scenes that really made me go, "How the hell will they survive this?", and this plays to the strength of the film because it creates scenarios where it seems impossible for our characters to make it out alive.

But it isn't just that. These scenarios also help us in learning more about these characters. True character nature is revealed under the choices they make under extreme pressure. In such scenarios, we learn who the character truly is, and what he/she cares about, how far they're willing to go to achieve what they want.

Seok-Woo is a selfish man. He only believes in looking out for himself. But the film doesn't let us know this through just dialogue. We see this through how he reacts to certain scenarios, and the actions he takes. After being attacked by an army of zombies, Seok-Woo saves a seat for Soo-An. But she instead lets an elderly woman sit. Seok-Woo questions why his daughter finds the need to be kind at a time like this. 

Later in the film, he learns that upon reaching a station, everyone will be quarantined. And he was told a different route, that would lead him away from said quarantine. He could've told this to everyone, instead he keeps it to himself, and plans to escape with Soo-An. His daughter even points out his selfishness when she learns of this, and explains why her mom had left him. 

But the film also uses choice to show his character arc. Seok-Woo's arc is that of becoming selfless. To be empathetic at a time like this. My personal favourite character is Sang-Hwa. A soon-to-be father with his pregnant wife. He's everything Seok-Woo isn't. He's compassionate and caring. Little things such as, him being a loving husband and a strong man who can fight the zombies, definitely makes him a memorable character.

But it is also his thematic significance that shines. Snag-Hwa is who Soo-An wishes her father would be. Sang-Hwa is basically Seok-Woo, with him already having reached his arc. Along with this, the real antagonist of the film aren't the zombies, but instead it's this overbearingly self entitled man Yon Suk, who cares about no one but himself. He's a character we can easily project our hate onto. And from the outside, he can come across as just a completely 2 dimensionally evil person who doesn't find it problematic to throw others in front of zombies just to protect himself. 

But his narrative purpose is to show us what can become of Seok-Woo if he gives into his apathy. Sang-Hwa and Yon Suk are characters that serve the protagonist's character arc, while also managing to be their own characters that we can project our feelings onto. 

One more mind blowing aspect about this film is how it made me question morality. The conflict here isn't just between the humans and zombies. That is easily black and white. But it also contains conflict amongst humans themselves. In a scene, as our main cast of characters escape the harrowing threat of zombies, they're not allowed inside the other train car, because the humans inside are afraid that the people outside might be infected. 

So since we're worried about the people we have come to care about, it's easy to despise the people inside who could be responsible for their death. But I also found myself thinking from their point of view, and honestly, tell me, would you let in a group of strangers inside the vehicle you're in, with a possibility that they could be infected? And it is in moments like these where the film transcends from what's expected from this genre. 

As the plot moves forward, Seok-Woo is forced to be a team player, and begins to change as a person. When a homeless man is stuck, he goes out of his way to help him. Such actions truly define the character of Seok-Woo. He's a flawed man in the beginning of the movie, and a changed one by the end. But it isn't plain. The effectiveness of the arc is in the situations he's forced to take part in, that challenge his beliefs, and has to change. 

I found myself nearly crying by the end, and that's really saying something. I can say that I've been on an emotional journey with these characters, and this is why I love Train to Busan. It's one of my favourite films and I certainly think you should give it a watch if you haven't seen it. 

Thank Your for Reading

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