I was down with a bad cough on the day I watched this film.

Throughout the show, I did not dare to even

cough, swallowing back any itch I had. There’s a tendency for movie-goers to feel dodgy and suspicious
of anyone who is coughing or sneezing around you after the film.

The name of the movie speaks for itself, airborne virus, 3.4 infections per second, 100% fatality. A film
with many different stories, showing people’s desperation, hope, violence, love, vengeance, and
camaraderie. The actors were fantastic, there were comedy amongst the anxiety. The fly in the ointment
was the poor visual effects of the explosion scene. It was so bad that I couldn’t help shaking my head at
the sight of the fake fire.

Here’s a few points why you should/should not watch The Flu:

The War Epidemic Hero

Hyuk Jang

Don’t you think he looked more like a soldier out of war than a rescue worker out of a plague? His
obsession with the female lead was a little foolish, but I guess that made the tensed film a little sweeter.
I thought the character Ji-goo was a little to be to be true, risking his own life to keep a stranger’s ill kid
safe and helping the locked up shoppers in a shopping mall when there is an airborne virus spreading. Is
that even possible in real life?

The Doctor and The Mum

Soo Ae

The character In-hye was perhaps the next most conflicting role besides the President. She’s an
immunologist who helped to develop the vaccine for the avian flu but when her daughter was infected
by the virus too, she tried to hide the fact and smuggle her into the non-infected zone.

The doe-eye angel

Park Min Ha

Get ready to be shocked by the girl. I thought the role of Mirre was just to be infected and play “sick”.
But her act at the climax brought tears to everyone’s eyes, whether you want it or not. Yes, including
guys, with testimony from my male friend, who was touched at several moments in the film. I won’t give
too many spoilers, but she’s definitely Korea’s next Moon Geun-young.

The Comedian

the flu korean movie

Korean films love to have one or two hilarious characters as the lead’s sidekick. I am usually irritated by
these characters as they will usually mess up the situation or cause some danger. But here, Bae Kyung-
ub (Yoo Hae-jin) will always turn up at the right time, with some witty comment, saving the day.

The handsome president

Cha in pyo

Like all films, the politicians are usually the cold-blooded ones. I was surprised to see a some-what
familiar face (In-Pyo Cha 车仁表) as the President. He acted as a President who got hold of the news by
the time the virus was full-blown. Fighting against the other politicians and foreign powers, he did a
great job bringing out the dilemma of a decision maker and giving the cold government a little touch of
humanity.

This film really got me thinking, what would I do, as a decision maker, if such a plague happens in
Singapore (touch wood!). Will I really close down the city and prevent people from leaving the country,
transporting all the important figures out of the country and burn all the dying citizens? The fear and
concern the cold-blooded ministers had were real. What if the uninfected had contracted the disease
within the 48 hours? There’s so many what-ifs that I am seriously glad I did not have to make such a
decision.

The irritating Victim

the flu korean movie

An interesting part of this film was the human traffickers who started and spread this whole epidemic,
were victims of the situation, yet the nuisance of the story. He seemed only capable of trying to create a
mess, and not knowing the seriousness of the whole situation. I wasn’t trying to be heartless when he
went demented because of his brother’s sudden death. But the level of his anger seemed to have
sustained throughout the period of the time the quarantine was on, making me feel as if the whole
event started and ended in less than a day, instead of the few days stated in the movie.
There are actually many more interesting characters, like the unnamed soldier who sacrificed himself for
his illed mother, the selfish ex-soldier who tried to kidnapped Mirre (the little girl), the illegal immigrant
(Mongsai?) aka the sole survivor from the container of dead immigrants. The panic, despair, and
desperate struggle for survival of a hopeless city was carefully shown.

This is a great film to watch, but try not to eat anything during the film, it felt weird, as if I was eating
infected food when watching. Oh, yes, and do watch till the end (after credits) for a nice little surprise.

Cast InterviewsI was down with a bad cough on the day I watched this film. Throughout the show, I did
not dare to even cough, swallowing back any itch I had. There’s a tendency for movie-goers to feel
dodgy and suspicious of anyone who is coughing or sneezing around you after the film.

The name of the movie speaks for itself, airborne virus, 3.4 infections per second, 100% fatality. A film
with many different stories, showing people’s desperation, hope, violence, love, vengeance, and
camaraderie. The actors were fantastic, there were comedy amongst the anxiety. The fly in the ointment
was the poor visual effects of the explosion scene. It was so bad that I couldn’t help shaking my head at
the sight of the fake fire.

Here’s a few points why you should/should not watch The Flu:

The War Epidemic Hero

Hyuk Jang

Don’t you think he looked more like a soldier out of war than a rescue worker out of a plague? His
obsession with the female lead was a little foolish, but I guess that made the tensed film a little sweeter.
I thought the character Ji-goo was a little to be to be true, risking his own life to keep a stranger’s ill kid
safe and helping the locked up shoppers in a shopping mall when there is an airborne virus spreading. Is
that even possible in real life?

The Doctor and The Mum

Soo Ae
The character In-hye was perhaps the next most conflicting role besides the President. She’s an
immunologist who helped to develop the vaccine for the avian flu but when her daughter was infected
by the virus too, she tried to hide the fact and smuggle her into the non-infected zone.

The doe-eye angel

Park Min Ha

Get ready to be shocked by the girl. I thought the role of Mirre was just to be infected and play “sick”.
But her act at the climax brought tears to everyone’s eyes, whether you want it or not. Yes, including
guys, with testimony from my male friend, who was touched at several moments in the film. I won’t give
too many spoilers, but she’s definitely Korea’s next Moon Geun-young.

The Comedian

the flu korean movie

Korean films love to have one or two hilarious characters as the lead’s sidekick. I am usually irritated by
these characters as they will usually mess up the situation or cause some danger. But here, Bae Kyung-
ub (Yoo Hae-jin) will always turn up at the right time, with some witty comment, saving the day.

The handsome president

Cha in pyo

Like all films, the politicians are usually the cold-blooded ones. I was surprised to see a some-what
familiar face (In-Pyo Cha 车仁表) as the President. He acted as a President who got hold of the news by
the time the virus was full-blown. Fighting against the other politicians and foreign powers, he did a
great job bringing out the dilemma of a decision maker and giving the cold government a little touch of
humanity.

This film really got me thinking, what would I do, as a decision maker, if such a plague happens in
Singapore (touch wood!). Will I really close down the city and prevent people from leaving the country,
transporting all the important figures out of the country and burn all the dying citizens? The fear and
concern the cold-blooded ministers had were real. What if the uninfected had contracted the disease
within the 48 hours? There’s so many what-ifs that I am seriously glad I did not have to make such a
decision.

The irritating Victim

the flu korean movie

An interesting part of this film was the human traffickers who started and spread this whole epidemic,
were victims of the situation, yet the nuisance of the story. He seemed only capable of trying to create a
mess, and not knowing the seriousness of the whole situation. I wasn’t trying to be heartless when he
went demented because of his brother’s sudden death. But the level of his anger seemed to have
sustained throughout the period of the time the quarantine was on, making me feel as if the whole
event started and ended in less than a day, instead of the few days stated in the movie.

There are actually many more interesting characters, like the unnamed soldier who sacrificed himself for
his illed mother, the selfish ex-soldier who tried to kidnapped Mirre (the little girl), the illegal immigrant
(Mongsai?) aka the sole survivor from the container of dead immigrants. The panic, despair, and
desperate struggle for survival of a hopeless city was carefully shown.

This is a great film to watch, but try not to eat anything during the film, it felt weird, as if I was eating
infected food when watching. Oh, yes, and do watch till the end (after credits) for a nice little surprise.

Cast Interviews