Context

Train to Busan was written in South Korea and was released on July 20, 2016. The film takes place in modern South Korea time, and a majority amount of the film is set on the high-speed train going from Seoul to Busan.

The intended targeting audience for this film are ranged from older teens to middle-aged working adults. Through the main setting of the film (on the train), Director Yoon makes the horror theme more relatable to the targeted audiences as many people in that age range commute to school, work and home by train.

PURPOSE

In this action horror film, Director Yeon manages a diverse casting of characters ranging in age and social class and utilizes the feeling of fear as well as the character's background, stereotypes, and actions to convey a more meaningful purpose that revolves around the importance of empathy and bring awareness to the socioeconomic class divide in a social, historical and cultural context. 

Importance of Empathy

Throughout the film, the development of the characters was seen through their course of actions and behaviours. Seok-woo was portrayed as a selfish husband and a neglecting father who only cared about himself and his work. In many of the beginning scenes, we can see that Seok-woo attempts to close the door on Sang-hwa and his pregnant wife Seong-Kyeong, to protect himself from the incoming zombies on the train. On the other hand, Sang-hwa is a very kind-hearted and selfless man, and he calls Seok-woo out on his “every-man for himself” mentality. Parallel to Seok-woo's behaviour and selfishness, Yon-suk an arrogant COO that has consistently displayed actions that endangers the other passengers for his own self-interest. Yon-suk dies as he continues down his path of narcissism, this served as a reminder to the selfish Seok-woo. We can see a change in Seok-woo's character during the scene where Su-na finally screams out at her father "you only care about yourself; this is why mommy left." Afterwards, Seok-woo reflects and revaluates his past behaviour throughout the rest of the film and starts to care for others. In the end he sacrificed himself to save his daughter and Seong-kyeong from the zombies. By setting the film in a dangerous apocalyptic setting packed with action and heroism, Director Yeong centers the film around the motivations that fuels their decisions and their developing characteristics to bring forth themes such as the importantance of family, and empathy. 

Social context

As mentioned in the beginning, this film consisted of a wide range of characters varying in age and economic status that demonstrates the society of South Korea. Each of these characters brings forth their own distinct and unique background stories that really helps in the construction of the film and illustrate the privilege and unfairness that exists in our society. Setting the characters Seok-woo and Yon-suk as a Fund manager, and a Business executive - the most representative jobs of capitalism. These two characters continuously utilize their high economic status to survive the apocalypse. Due to their high ranked positions, Yon-suk and Seok-woo can receive "insider information" from their connections and use that information to save themselves. This demonstrate the privilege and benefit that comes from being in a high social class, it also displays the selfishness that reside in individuals that holds more power. Another pair of interesting character are Sang-hwa and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong, both are part of the middle working class. Throughout the film, this couple openly displays their love and care for each other and the family that they're starting together. Although they don't have connections to higher power or access to such privilege like the previous two, but they have compassion, love, and each other. Their actions and decisions were driven by the safety of one and another and the unborn baby and through these two characters Seok-woo had a soft-hearted character change. Another relatable character was the baseball player Min Yong-guk, he was just a high school student going on a trip with the baseball team and his crush. His character really creates a connection to the young audiences watching this film, as he fights to survive to protect his friends and to "impress" his crush with his bravery. The last character was a homeless man, he was by far the most intriguing character. He had no family, no wealth, and did not make any worthy contribution to their Country. The homeless man knew he was placed at the lowest economical standing compared to the other passengers on the train. Thus, in the scene, the homeless man chose to selflessly sacrifice himself to the zombies to save all the other passengers. Director Yoon used the terrifying apocalypse setting to highlight the characters' actions and attitude that were reflected through fear while demonstrating the unfairness in the socioeconomic divide.

Historical and Cultural context

Train to Busan was set in the modern time of South Korea and the film does an excellent job portraying the social expectations and attitudes that the modern/current South Korea government and society considers normal under such terrifying pandemic circumstances. Since the setting of the film was made to be modern-day South Korea, the country was very developed and had many resources available to them. In the film, Korea was portrayed to be technologically, medically, and economically advanced. However, when the zombie apocalypse began, a new wave of fear swallowed the entire country, and the government failed to protect the citizens. Instead of using the wide range of advanced resources that were available, the government chose to hide the news of the apocalypse and tried to redirect the citizens attention to other news because the country’s reputation is viewed far more significant than the safety of the citizens. Once they couldn’t hide the news of the apocalypse anymore, the government chose to protect themselves and the higher class by using military force to terminate all “infected” cities in South Korea along with the citizens that live in those cities – including citizens that haven’t been infected yet. Every man for themselves mentality was encouraged by the government’s actions and induced by fear as the individuals fight for survival against the zombies, the military force, and each other. The privileges, advantages and the feeling of entitlement that is received by high class individuals as the lower classes struggle for survival on their own with limited resources and help available; all were social expectations impelled and encouraged by the government. Again, this film really highlights the inequality among the socio-economic class divide perceived in our modern-day society.