Movie: Thirst
Director: Chan-wook Park
Cast: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim and Ha-Kyun Shin
Rating: ****
If you’re a Chan-wook Park enthusiastic, then undoubtedly you will enjoy this film from the word go. But, if you’re not a follower of his work, then it’s unlikely that you will even appreciate the effort he has put in to bring forth one of best horror/vampire films in a long time. To thoroughly enjoy “Thirst”, which supersedes many of the director’s own films, you need to take out time to watch some of his previous to understand his style of film-making.
Park, known for innovating with every film, intelligently blends love, tragedy, gothic horror and character drama to produce a strikingly brilliant film. Typically, all horror/vampire films leak of violence and blood. Of course, Park too has adequate moments of these common cliches but he sets them in scenes as skillfully as ever.
Sang-hyun, a priest in a small town serves devotedly at a local hospital. He is infected by a deadly virus after he volunteers as a test subject for an experiment in Africa. He dies, but is soon resurrected thanks to a blood transfusion, only to turn him into a vampire. After resurrection, he is believed to be a healer and people flock to him in an effort to cure themselves from deadly diseases.
Among hundreds of people who visit him, one happens to be an old friend, Kang-woo, and his wife, Tae-ju. While attending to Kang-woo, believed to be suffering from cancer, he begins a torrid love affair with Tae-ju. What was supposed to be a love affair soon turns into unfolding of gruesome events involving multiple murders. While Sang-hyun tries to hold onto his human side, Tae-ju really gets obsessed with the vampire side, upon which Sang-hyun realizes something has to be done.
Even though it is promoted as a horror/vampire flick, Park induces lot of dark humor that is very funny, both visually and verbally. For many, it may not be easy to even categorize this film under one particular genre, as for most part of its running time, “Thirst” hovers between horror and romance. Yes, you heard it right. Park takes effort to add a strong love angle to the film, which in a way changes the course of the film after a while.
Vampirism is subtly mixed with super human abilities and the characters are tested at certain levels in the film. The analogy that attempts to differentiate the boon and bane of vampirism is a treat to watch. Akin to the vein of vampire myth, characters have superhuman strength and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. These scenes are some of the best moments of the film, and bring forth the strange love affair between the lead pair.
The performance of every single actor in the film is top notch. 22-year old Ok-bin Kim as the female protagonist pulls off a powerful character with ease, while Kang-ho Song leaves one in awe with his portrayal of priest-turned-vampire, and the way he fights to control his vampire side take over him is brilliant to watch on screen.
Jaw-dropping violence, tasteful gore, great humour, incredible suspense and even very realistic sex scenes make “Thirst” unavoidable. At little over 130 minutes, the film may test your patience, especially with a tragic climax, but it is worth the time.
