Sed de sangre

A few years back I saw Oldboy. Up until that time in my life I had watched hundreds of foreign language films, loved some and endured others, but nothing to that point gave me the adrenaline rush that this film did.

After Oldboy I sought out the director's other films, loved Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, really liked JSA and thought Sympathy for Lady Vengeance was worthwhile also, if a notch below the rest.

For those keeping score at home, that is a 100% strike rate of 4 out of 4 films. If any director makes 4 strong films in a row I always look forward to whatever they come up with next with great anticipation.

So when I saw that director Chan Wook-Park had a new movie coming out, and that it was a vampire movie? I mean come on. It has to be good doesn't it? Yes and no, Thirst holds true to Wook-Park's deliberate skewing of conventions so that this is not your Twilight, Underworld or Lost Boys vampire film.

That's a good thing by the way.

But at 2 hrs 15+ minutes there is a little too much "filler" here to sit through in between the stronger scenes, which realistically don't have the impact of Wook-Park's better movies.

The movie opens with a Priest named Sang-Hyeon, who is so selfless and giving to humanity that he volunteers himself as a test subject for a horrible disease that basically blisters the skin until the sores and boils explode and move into the respiratory system, killing the infected in a horrible and painful manner.

Sang-Hyeon is expected to die, indeed 500 other infected people did... And he does, temporarily at least.

Upon his return he is now a symbol of purity, having been the only known survivor. He is treated much like a religious figure, something that he so uncomfortable with that he practically goes into hiding, staying with the family of a childhood friend.

Now the friend is basically an idiot, he is married but treats his wife like sh*t, as does his Mother who lives with them, but it seems at this point that Sang-Hyeon has nowhere else to go.

What no-one else knows though, as a result of the blood transfusion that kept him alive through his treatment Sang-Hyeon is now a vampire, but his religious beliefs don't allow him to kill to slake his thirst. He instead volunteers his priestly services at a local hospital and siphons the comatose and suicidal. After ingesting the blood Sang-Hyeon is temporarily "super", in a way that many other cinematic vampires are all the time, although without fresh blood he quickly reverts back to a deteriorating state until another fix is available.

Another side effect of gorging is that he is super-sensitive, and being around the young wife triggers thoughts that only dramatic bouts of self flagellation can quell, (look it up, it's not what you think).

Eventually though Sang-Hyeon allows himself to let the "little priest" go to work, and he and the wife quickly embark on a passionate and clandestine affair, with each episode temporarily returning Sang-Hyeon to full strength.

It is at this point that Sang-Hyeon decides to tell the wife of his dreadful secret, and after the understandable initial shock she "volunteers" to join Sang-Hyeon.

Now that Tae-Joo is a member of the SPF 100+ club, this brings a new obvious wrinkle to her life, as she still must endure the unwelcome existence that is being the dogsbody of the childish Kang-Woo and his controlling Mum.

And from this point the dynamic of the film changes dramatically, with Tae-Joo rapidly coming to terms with the requirements that being a vampire necessitates, and Sang-Hyeon having his own self written code of ethics turned upside down.

Chan Wook-Park doesn't "do" genre films. He seems to start with a core idea or plot element and builds around it with so many other facets that eventually what remains is a film that obeys certain conventions but twists the implementation to the point that the movie becomes almost impossible to categorise.

The two "sympathy" films were both revenge films at their core, as was Oldboy, only not in the Death Wish or cowboy revenge film way. Nothing is that simple in the Wook-Park universe.

Sang-Hyeon isn't a bad guy in the way that we would ordinarily consider a guy who sucks the blood from the living, nor is he an anti-hero. He is a priest who has become a vampire not through choice, who has learned to deal with his situation.

Even the most obvious choice as the "bad guy" in this case, Kang-Woo's Mum, is basically just doing what many other Mothers would (to a point).

Kang-Ho Song, who plays Sang-Hyeon, is in many Wook-Park films, and he is ideal here. He has a great round expressionless face that rarely shows any feeling or passion, and slits for eyes that also don't give anything away - regardless of circumstance - he is equally believable as both a priest and an unwilling vampire here.

While I liked Thirst, and I must admit I would have loved to have the opportunity to spruik a "Korean vampire movie" to my mates, I think that there is just a little too much missing here to give it a strong recommendation.

(Maybe I am a little disappointed because it was a great director that made this admittedly average film, I'm not sure yet.) Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. Not a big step backward for Chan Wook-Park, but just a little below his normally strong output. Would benefit from a few more edits.

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Talk about getting your socks knocked off, this newest amazing movie from Park Chan-wook's would be my favorite new take on the vampire genre, if not for "Let the Right One In", which still remains my fav, but this one is right behind it. A Catholic Priest volunteers for some radical medical experiments, that turn him into a vampire. He tries his best to be a good vampire, and not kill anybody, but it's pretty clear, that's going to be rather difficult. Park mixes in some black comedy into this one, just as he does in most of his earlier films, but the subject matter is dead serious. It also has one of the best vampire sex scenes I have ever seen. The vampire Priest steals blood from hospitals and anywhere he can find it, but when he meets his new lover, things pretty much go downhill, when she wants to become a vampire too. This is an excellent entry into the vampire genre, and continues Park Chan-wook's amazing body of work. This is not to be missed, every minute of the 134 min running time is entertaining as hell.

If you love Chan-wook Park, you know what to expect. His films are brutal, poetic, tragic, and artistic, with splashes of very grim humor. THIRST is clearly Park's style, and I loved every second of it, from the cinematography (every shot is gorgeous and creative) to the story, which blends Shakespearean tragedy, murderous love, Gothic horror, and layered character drama. The characters are complex and there is plenty of moral ambiguity to go around. Even the most sociopathic character evokes sympathy. The direction is restrained and the performances are nuanced - like SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, there are too many subtleties to take in on the first viewing. Chan-wook Park is an intelligent, bold, consistently surprising filmmaker. It's unpredictable - scenes go from brutal and heart-wrenching to laugh-out-loud hilarious in an instant. This is closer to LADY VENGEANCE then SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE as far as being over-the-top and comical. But, like LADY VENGEANCE, it's incredibly rich, thought-provoking, and rewarding.

If you like beautifully told vampire stories (LET THE RIGHT ONE IN) or are a fan of Chan-wook Park, seeing THIRST should be obvious. Easily one of the best films of 2009.

I like to keep my reviews short, i rather review the film than compare it or describe it scene by scene like a lot of people like to do, so let's get to it.

I honestly came close to not finishing the movie because I was looking for scary and this isn't much of that, but there is A LOT of blood and violence. The only reason I kept watching was because even though it wasn't creepy or scary, it was a beautifully shot and very well made film. The story feels different than other vampire movies it's not just a bunch of the same old vampire clichés. the acting is good for the most part, personally i think the 2 main characters were amazing. It's kind of long, but the movie gets better as it progresses, the ending is nothing less than what You would expect(considering who directed the film).

So in short, if you're looking for scary in the traditional sense You won't find it here, but if You're a fan of the Vampire and gore genres or just want to watch a good movie You'll certainly enjoy it.

No pun intended. I'm not going to spoil anything about the story, but it's safe to assume that you already know, what kind of character the main actor portrays. And of course being a priest while being "naughty" exaggerates all that. Plus this is the most erotic movie from Park Chan Wook yet.

If you have seen Wook's previous works/movies you know he is very visual (in a good way) and it shows again here. While it strays away from the vengeance theme of his prior movies on the surface, it still has quite some heat hidden underneath. And when that boils, quite a few bad things start to happen. But through all that dark, there also moments of light (fun) to be had too. A very stylistic and though provoking movie, that lives outside the mainstream and does a very good job ...