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K-Pop Demon Hunters' Secret Ingredient: Bong Joon Ho's 'The Host'
1 Feb
Summary
- The animated hit drew inspiration from Bong Joon Ho's 2006 film 'The Host.'
- Director Maggie Kang aimed to emulate Bong Joon Ho's tonal blending style.
- Netflix encouraged a culturally Korean identity in the animated production.
The cultural phenomenon of 2025, "K-Pop Demon Hunters," owes a significant debt to the celebrated auteur Bong Joon Ho, particularly his 2006 monster film, "The Host." Co-director Maggie Kang, born in Seoul, grew up in Toronto and has spoken about Bong's profound impact on her work.
Kang was inspired by Bong Joon Ho's masterful ability to blend diverse tones within a single film, a technique she witnessed firsthand in "The Host." This unique approach allowed Kang to create "K-Pop Demon Hunters" with a style that felt both novel and relatable.
"The Host" itself was a significant South Korean film, inspired by a real-life 2000 incident where U.S. military chemicals were dumped into Seoul's Han River. The movie depicts a family's struggle against a creature that emerged from the polluted waters, becoming the highest-grossing South Korean film at the time of its release.
