Bong Joon Ho Restores 'The Host' for 20th Anniversary: 'We Are Repeating Our Mistakes'

Magnolia Pictures will return a 4K restoration of Bong Joon Ho's "The Host" to U.S. theaters nationwide on Nov. 20, twenty years after the monster movie first premiered at Cannes. Screenings on Nov. 21 and 23 will feature an exclusive conversation between Bong and filmmaker Edgar Wright.

The Oscar-winning director says the film's satire of official misinformation has only gained currency. "Now we're in the thick of the Iran War and we're still in the midst of an ongoing war, and whether it's good history or bad history, it seems like we as a community, as a whole, are repeating our mistakes," Bong tells Variety. "Although the film has stayed the same, the history is repeating itself and making the film relevant again."

What was 'The Host' about?

Song Kang-ho plays Gang-du, a snack-kiosk vendor who dozes off beside Seoul's Han River. A creature crawls out of the water, rampages through the riverbank crowds and snatches his schoolgirl daughter Hyun-seo, played by Ko A-sung. Authorities declare the monster a carrier of an unknown virus. When Gang-du gets a phone call from Hyun-seo — terrified but alive — he resolves to enter the sealed-off riverside zone and bring her back. Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il and Bae Doo-na co-star as family members. New Zealand's Weta Workshop built detailed creature models; The Orphanage handled visual effects and animation.

Bong wrote the script with the SARS outbreak in mind. A scene in which U.S. lawmakers concede there never was a virus spreading through Korea satirized the misinformation behind the Iraq War, launched over weapons of mass destruction that turned out not to exist.

"I can't believe it's been 20 years since the release of the film. Time flies," Bong says.

How was the restoration done?

Bong says the goal was to recreate the look of a fresh 35mm print, as the film screened at its 2006 Cannes premiere. "The Host" was shot on Fuji stock rather than Kodak, and Bong wanted to recover the subtle color palette he developed with cinematographer Kim Hyung-ku during the shoot.

"Ironically, we were using digital technology to enhance the film look of the movie," Bong says.

The effects shots, completed in 2005 and 2006 before 4K existed, had to be upscaled. Bong says the team took care that the creature still blended convincingly with the actors and surroundings, and he is satisfied with the result — though he still spots minor CGI flaws when he watches the film now.

He refuses to fix them. "I believe that the film is a record of what I was as a filmmaker at the time, and so I do not have any wishes to correct that," Bong says. "Just like we don't edit or rewrite our journals, I feel like it should just be left as is."

He points to Ridley Scott, who removed shots when he re-released the original 1979 "Alien." Bong felt the same impulse — over one or two shots — and resisted. Which shots? He calls that a secret.

What does the sound tell us?

Bong did the sound work at Livetone, a Seoul facility where he has worked with the same sound supervisor for 25 years, even as cinematographers and other crew changed from film to film. The studio still holds the original sound library. His films from "Okja" onward, including "Parasite," have been mixed in Dolby Atmos (an object-based surround format), and "The Host" could be upgraded too — though Bong still needs to confirm which format the North American release will use.

The creature's voice got the most attention in the original design. The team recorded and processed a sea lion's sounds, then layered in a vocal performance by Korean actor Oh Dal-su.

Bong sees little point in remastering his later work; everything after "Okja" was shot in 4K and finished with Atmos. He has, however, made black-and-white versions of "Mother" and "Parasite" for small theatrical runs and festivals. "I have great admiration for black-and-white films," he says. "It's a process that I enjoyed very much."

After his animated feature "Ally," Bong confirms he will move to a slate of crime and horror films. "I want to return home," he says — a signal that the director who followed "The Host" to a Palme d'Or and four Oscars for "Parasite," the first non-English-language best picture winner, is circling back to the genre roots that made his name.