THIRST (Chan-Wook Park) review by Gary Dean Murray

Vampires are a fashionable monster as of late. Between Twilight and True Blood, the blood-thirsty bloodsuckers are the new vogue. Last year, one of my favorite foreign flicks was Let the Right One In, a twisted pre-teen vampire movie, the movie that Twilight only hoped it would be. On the other side of the precis, these days no one can do horror like the Asians. Back in the 1970's it seemed that the Italians were kings of gross-out, drive-in fueled macabre. But now our friends from the Far East have taken that mantel and produced some of the best and scariest frights of the last decade. So it would make great sense to combine the two. With that, we get a great little horror flick, Thirst, a Prix du Jury prize at last years Cannes Film Festival.

The movie starts with a priest Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) who feels that he needs to be doing more to help the helpless. He volunteers to be a Guinea pig for an experiment to combat a new viral disease - a plague that has killed hundreds. The blood he receives in transfusion is inflected. He survives the experiment which makes him a celebrity and, to some zealots, a blessed man. Though it seems that he is cured, the disease keeps coming back, with scarring sores. Our man of the cloth finds that only one thing will stop the scars and return him to his pre-disease self, is human blood.

So, basically Sang-hyun turns into a vampire. His morals of not harming another person conflict with his blood lust. He finds his sustenance from a body that in a coma, draining life fluids in secreted ways. His only solace from this pain is a game night with his friends.

Sang-hyun's childhood friend has a wife Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin) who needs salvation from her existence. She is the emotional rag doll of her husband and his mother. It seems that Mom has raised Tae-ju since she was a little girl and is indebted to the family. Since the family are the ones who saved her all those years ago, they feel that running Tae-ju's life is required. She lives on the ledge of despair, wanting to change her life but having no way to achieve her goals.

Sang-hyun falls hard for Tae-ju, complicating his vows as a priest and his carnal wants as a man. As they become closer, she notices things that are not normal for this man of the cloth. After the reveal, she decides that she wants to be a member of the Dracula clan.



It is their relationship in conflict with being a vampire with that of being a fallen priest that drives Thirst. Everyone lusts for different things but in much the same fashion. Director Park Chan-wook made two of my favorite films from the last few years - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Old Boy. Both were tales of revenge with twists that worked on every level. Here he goes for a straight telling of the tale and not a M. Night shocking twist. He sets up his pieces, letting these two pawns in life battle on the checkered board of being. Not only are the special effects great, with Hammer blood splatter and high-wire flying, but they never overpower the basic love/lust story. Even on those odd moments when the storytelling seems choppy, Park still handles the narrative waters like an experienced sailor. He doesn't violate the basic mythology of vampirism, and still manages to add new turns to drive the story.

Song Kang-ho makes a compelling presence on screen. He is our conscious and our purity of the piece, doing battle between his priest Ego and his vampire Id. There is this feeling of overpowering sadness as he struggles to make sense of a life out of control. Every decision he makes has unforgiving consequences. But it is Kim Ok-vin who just steals the entire movie. Like all of the women in the films of Park Chan-wook, she is the most interesting character. Her journey from mouse to lion is truly captivating to behold. She becomes wish fulfillment for the audience, the kid who has found the magic key that opens up the proverbial candy store. Though she never realizes the eventual belly ache that befalls the wish consummation. We take this wild ride with her not because we believe in her, but in spite of her.

I know that many people fear foreign films for having to read the subtitles. Back in the earliest days of the silent cinema, every film had subtitles and no one considered it a challenge. For those who are looking for something just a bit different, Thirst will quench your craving.

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