Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Kim Ok-bin & Shin Ha-kyun
An interesting take on the vampire genre that involves some great moments of black humour and several interesting ideas but is unfortunately overlong which detracts from an otherwise good film.
Having mixed elements of horror into his previous revenge thrillers Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Old Boy and Lady Vengeance, Park Chan-wook now tackles horror more directly in this take on the vampire genre which not only adds his own unique slant on vampires but also reveals changing religious values in Korea. The resulting film, Thirst, is one filled with interesting ideas and themes as well as maintaining the director’s flair for black comedy but the film is unfortunately too long creating some pacing problems which detract from the better parts of the film.
When catholic priest Sang-hyun (Kang-ho) offers to participate in experiments to help find a cure for a deadly virus plaguing Korea, he finds himself having an unusual reaction after a blood transfusion that sees him make a full recovery from the disease after apparently dying from it. Sang-hyun soon discovers though that his continued health relies upon him drinking blood regularly and that he has gained abilities like that of a vampire complete with a vulnerability to sunlight. With many people also seeing him as a walking miracle following his recovery and coming to worship him, he leaves and goes to stay with an old childhood friend, Kang-woo (Ha-kyun) who suffers from illness and finds himself attracted to Kang-woo’s wife, Tae-ju (Ok-bin), who Sang-hyun also knew in childhood. Sang-hyun and Tae-ju then begin an affair which takes strange turns upon Tae-ju’s discovery of Sang-hyun’s condition and her willingness to be free from her husband no matter the cost which places Sang-hyun into difficult decisions which conflict with his religious beliefs.
Thirst is an interesting take on the vampire genre. Abandoning many of the familiar elements of vampire lore such as fangs, bats, vulnerability to holy water or crosses and really only maintaining the vulnerability to sunlight, thirst for blood and enhanced senses, Thirst instead chooses to focus on the moral questions surrounding the lifestyle of being a vampire. Having the main character be a priest, one who was devout and committed to helping others, become the vampire in the film allows Chan-wook to not only look at the moral questions surrounding the vampire’s need to take blood from the living to maintain their own survival and also the question of their own immortality but Chan-wook can also examine the rising influence of Catholicism in Korea. The themes of survival, of religion and of right and wrong make Thirst more insightful that some vampire films that aim at being straight horror with vampires as faceless bogeymen and there are elements in Thirst that directly confront the trend of vampire/human romances appearing in the genre with the Twilight films and books and television series like Buffy with the central relationship here being altogether more darker and acknowledging that such romances raise questions of psychological instabilities particularly in the handling of the character Tae-ju upon her discovery that Sang-hyun is a vampire. However, despite its strengths and some good moments of humour, the film takes a somewhat surreal turn in the middle following the death of a character and the approach to how Sang-hyun and Tae-ju deal with guilt as a result of the death. The sequence also lasts far too long dragging the length of the film out beyond two hours both effecting the pacing and detracts from the film’s finale.
Song Kang-ho, a regular performer in Park Chan-wook’s films, gives a good performance as Sang-hyun. He ably demonstrates the character’s guilt and the conflicts his survival as a vampire means for his religious beliefs and his morals. Kim Ok-bin is also entertaining as Tae-ju who gets to demonstrate her character as, initially a victim, whilst later getting to show her darker, more unstable and dangerous side and be engaging whilst doing so.
Overall, Thirst is an interesting vampire film from the director of Old Boy. While featuring some interesting twists on the vampire genre, on religious and moral questions surrounding the lifestyle of a vampire and featuring some great moments of humour, Thirst does suffer pacing problems in the middle section of the film that means the otherwise enjoyable ending suffers by the time it takes to get there following an overlong and overly-surreal middle act. Worth seeing but not as enjoyable as it could have been.
Rating: 3/5
