The film features a satirical portrayal of the South Korean government as bureaucratic , inept , and essentially uncaring . Korean youth protesters are featured satirically in the film , in a mixed way , partially heroic and partially self-righteous and oblivious . According to Bong Joon-ho , the Park Nam-il character is a deliberate anachronism , a reference to South Korea 's troubled political history , which involved violent protest . " When you look in terms of this character , it 's sort of like the feeling of time going backwards . ... You could say that he is the image of the college protester back ten years ago ; it does n't exist in the present day . " '' The Host '' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21 , 2006 and was released nationally in South Korea on July 27 , 2006 . Having been heavily hyped and featuring one of the most popular leading actors in the country , Song Kang-ho , the film was released on a record number of screens and made the South Korean record books with its box office performance during its opening weekend . The 2.63 million admissions and box office revenue easily beat the previous records set by '' Typhoon '' . The film reached six million viewers on August 6 , 2006 . In early September the film became South Korea 's all time box office leader , selling more than 12.3 million tickets in just over a month in a country of 48.5 million . By the end of its run on November 8 , the viewing figures came in at 13,019,740
Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The Host (2006 film)