Train to Busan: Learning about humanity from a zombie movie

I haven’t seen a lot of zombie movies. In fact, my only reference would be Walking Dead, and I didn’t even finish all the seasons available. Train to Busan has become a phenomenal hit, and my FB timeline is full of raves about this Korean zombie movie. Since I am going gaga over Kdramas these days (#KimSooHyunIsLove), I thought I might as well see this controversial movie. I braced myself, because I knew I would be subjecting myself to a screamfest and shock, but when I was already in front of the screen, I must say Korean visual media has never ceased to provide me with a roller-coaster of emotions.

The movie not only proved to be great when it comes to cinematography, it is also packed with things I’ve heard from my humanity class, and more. It effectively demonstrated how far people can go in being nice and kind, selfish and cruel all in the name of survival. Here are some of the things that made me gooey in watching a zombie movie. 

1. We do not have all the time in the world. I’ve always been a fan of the saying live life to the fullest, because we’d never know until when we are gonna be with our loved ones and spend time with them. Seok-Woo was a fund manager and was always away from home, thus never had enough time for his daughter. Good thing he heeded to the last plea of his daughter Soo-an to go to Busan and visit her mom. Little did he know though, that it could be their last bonding moment.

2. Kids are kinder than adults. This is exactly the reason why I hang out a lot with kids! 😀 They are more fun and easier to deal with. Kind and compassionate, too. There are lots of times when Soo-an demonstrated this kind of unadulterated kindness. She believed that other people should know that she and her father were actually heading the safer area, and she even gave her seat to the old lady because she thought of her grandmother who was always aching in the knees.

3. Love is an ultimate sacrifice. Trust too. I was really under the impression that all of them would actually survive, although looking back at Walking Dead, I also thought that Train to Busan wouldn’t be different in that sense. Anyway, Sang-hwa is gonna be your main man when it came to sacrificing oneself in order for a loved one to survive. Well, there was that heart-breaking scene in the end between Soo-an and her dad, but those last looks in the eyes of husband and pregnant wife who knew that it would the last time they would see each other were something that twisted my heart out, too. Good thing, too, that this sacrifice didn’t go in vain.

6. But then, good people still exist. Yes, let’s not lose hope in humanity. There is still hope, and most of the time, they are demonstrated by people who we thought could least do it.

Train to Busan premiered in the Philippines on September 1 and is still being shown in some cinemas. Glad that I’ve finally seen it.

What was the last movie you’ve seen? Tell me about it.

xoxo,

Beth G.