Park Chan-wook is at it again. Thirst is a breathtaking film from the Director that bought us Oldboy and I’m a Cyborg, but that’s ok. Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho The Host & The Good, The Bad, The Weird) is an unhappy and depressed priest
who volunteers for a medical experiment knowing that it will likely kill him.
It is his way of killing himself without facing hell as suicide is a great sin
for a Catholic. After being injected with a deadly virus and a prototype
vaccine, Sang is cured but has a terrible side effect – he is now a vampire.
Sang struggles to deal with the two sides of his personality and vows not to
kill but to steal blood from comatose patients at the hospital in which he
volunteers. Meanwhile he meets a family he once knew when he was young and
becomes friendly with them. Their adopted daughter Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin) is
unhappily married to their son and is treated like a slave by the rest of the
family. She is drawn to Sang and he to her and the two begin a strange and
erotic love affair. Sang must then decide whether to ‘turn’ Tae-ju and risk
turning her and her increasingly erratic and unpredictable behaviour into a
monstrous killing machine.
Park Chan-wook is fast becoming my favourite director and is the master of making a beautiful looking
film. All of his films have a wonderful look to them, posses exquisite framing
and cinematography and Thirst is no
exception. Every shot is creative. There is never a time when the director
simply has a camera in a conventional or boring position. There is always
something to each shot. Park is a unique film maker and his trademark style and
technique is visible to see. The internal sets look tremendous too. The family
home at the centre of the story is transformed late on and looks wonderfully
clinical and menacing. The all white set looks strangely beautiful when
spattered with blood.
The story is attention-grabbing, crazy and well told. Both
central characters undergo a transformation during the film and it is a joy to
watch. The film deals with themes of religious duty, suicide, love, deceit and
moral ambiguity. Each idea is dealt with in a satisfying and knowledgeable way.
I did feel the film was slightly too long and that sometimes the story was a
bit clunky but these are my only criticisms of an otherwise superb film.
The acting is without exception flawless. Song Kang-ho is an
actor I could watch all day. He has a terrific range and I haven’t seen him
give a bad performance yet. Here he transforms from a mild Priest into a
conscientious but dangerous vampire and carries off both roles with aplomb.
Beautiful newcomer Kim Ok-bin is equally as impressive as the innocent and
impish young woman who turns into a vicious and vile seductress. Her
transformation is incredible and she acts both parts perfectly. At times it was
like watching two actresses. The supporting cast is also excellent, in
particular Kim Hae-sook who plays Tae-ju’s mother and Shin Ha-kyun who is
brilliant as Tae-ju’s idiot husband.
This film is obviously a must watch for Park Chan-wook fans
and should be for fans of darkly funny and stylish horror. The violence is
tasteful yet gory and the story gets stranger with each new scene. It features
some fantastic acting and is wonderfully directed by Park.
9/10
