Bong Joon Ho's The Host Returns to Cinemas on November 20 in a 4K Restoration
Bong Joon Ho's monster film The Host is coming back to cinemas nationwide on November 20, in a newly restored 4K version. Magnolia Pictures is releasing it, and the return marks 20 years since the film first screened at Cannes in 2006.
The restoration is a 20th-anniversary project, and Bong talked about it in an interview with Variety. He said the aim was to recreate the experience of watching a fresh 35mm print, the film copy that cinemas once ran through their projectors. A 4K version is a high-resolution digital copy, so the work was to make the old film look as it did on its first run, on a modern screen.
Colour was a big part of the job. The Host was shot on Fuji film stock rather than the Kodak stock many films of the era used. The team wanted to bring back the subtle colour qualities that Bong developed with cinematographer Kim Hyung-ku.
Not everything was easy to restore. Some visual effects were created in 2005 and 2006, before 4K was available, so those shots had to be upscaled. Upscaling means enlarging a lower-resolution image so it fits a higher-resolution frame.
Bong wrote the film with the SARS outbreak in mind. In one scene, U.S. lawmakers admit there never was a virus. Bong has described that moment as satire of the misinformation that surrounded the Iraq War and the claims about weapons of mass destruction, according to Variety.
Screenings on November 21 and 23 will include a conversation between Bong and filmmaker Edgar Wright. Tickets for the theatrical screenings are on sale now at hostmovie.com. A new trailer came out in late October, ahead of the release.
Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies. In plain terms, it decides how films reach cinemas and, later, home screens. Its official 4K press notes for the film carry the title "A film by BONG Joon-ho."
For anyone who has never seen The Host, the November 20 date gives a clear chance to catch it on a big screen. For anyone who has, the restoration offers a chance to see it again in the form its director wanted.
