Thirst (2009)

After watching Oldboy I was a little disappointed by the rest of Park's work, some of it is good but it never approaches the level of humour and originality that Oldboy had. This one does, it is nothing like Oldboy in plot or style but the same level of quality is there.

The acting is good with Kang-ho Song, OK-bin Kim and Ha-kyun Shin delivering excellent performances. Kim in particular manages to swap from the creepy horror scenes to the surreal comedy without the slightest misstep.

The plot is strange with lots of twists and turns and takes a big swipe at the vampire clichés.

The directing is spot on with tons of pace and humour throughout and some of the most memorable scenes I have ever seen. It does boast what is probably the weirdest love scene you will ever see.

This is just a great film.

Fmovies: 'Oldboy' director Park Chun-wook returns with what must be one of the yuckiest and at the same time most serious vampire flicks in movie history.

Trusting the latest Hollywood fad, vampires these days are supposed to be rather nonviolent, asexual, love-lorn chevaliers instead of the evil rampantly sexual blood-sucking mind-manipulating man-beasts of yore. This is the film you want to see if you want to remember the sticky thrills of the past... well, at least in the second half.

'Thirst' starts out with a lengthy character exposition culminating in a slightly different love story. The vampire transformation of a priest is, over quite some time, sidelined by the romantic and sexual aspects of the story, which makes for some awkward viewing. But the last 40 minutes or so are surprisingly gory. Well, maybe not so surprisingly if you know 'Oldboy' and 'I'm a Cyborg but that's OK', but I guess it's fair to say that 'Thirst' beats Park's earlier films in terms of in-your-face violence.

All in all, be warned that this is neither art cinema nor a horror flick. It may be too disgusting for many and too tame for some. 'Thirst' is original, entertaining and fortunately a little less weird than Park Chun-wook's earlier endeavors.

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 ...

Thirst fmovies. From the director of Oldboy comes this slick vampire flick. Kang-ho Song stars as a priest who is accidentally changed into a vampire while being cured of a deadly, mysterious virus. His vampirism and priesthood are quite at conflict, but he is able to survive by robbing the hospital's blood bank and unconscious patients who might not mind some siphoned blood. Because of his supposedly miraculous survival, he comes into the lives of Ha-kyun Shin's family. Shin has cancer, and his mother believes that Song can cure it. Unfortunately, Song's vampirism raises his levels of lust to a height where he can't help but fall for Shin's young wife, OK-vin Kim. Kim is intensely interested in the world of vampirism, and the two become lovers. The film from there goes in weird directions that I think one should experience for themselves. What really should be mentioned is Chan-wook Park's mastery of the medium of cinema. My God, I've rarely seen such a masterful visual artist at the peak of his powers. The major flaw of the film is that it's a little incoherent, especially near the beginning. Park is interested in telling his stories mostly in the visuals, which can be difficult to follow at times. But when it works, man, does it fly. The film is also perversely hilarious. The final sequence, easily one of the best of the decade, is simultaneously heartbreaking and delightfully ridiculous. OK-vin Kim should become a worldwide star after this film. She gives one of the best performances of the year.

Director Chan-wook Park became famous all over the world with his "vengeance trilogy". And even though I liked those three films (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) very much, it was also pleasant to see Park exploring different horizons with the untraditional romantic comedy I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, and more recently, with the film Thirst, which represents an unusual and very interesting vampire film, where the bloody scenes provoke the same level of impact as the evolution of the two main characters and the twisted way their relationship follows. However, Thirst is not a perfect film: there are some unnecessary elements in the screenplay, and some changes of tone feel a bit forced. Nevertheless, that is offset to some point by the interesting story, the perfect control Park has over his actors and the visual style with which he creates attractive images and moments of an intense emotional strength. In this last aspect, and I will say this with the fear of falling into the hyperbole, Park's direction remembered me to some point to filmmaker Orson Welles (1915-1985)' work, due to the care he brings to every frame and to every camera movement.

Besides, Thirst is faithful to the vampire subject, because it respects the "biological" precepts from the myth, wisely avoiding its most theatrical and bland characteristics...something which is an indirect way to say that there is an abundant level of blood and violence in this movie. And, in the Oldboy tradition, the violence is very graphic and direct. The vampires from Thirst are not the sophisticated ones from the books written by Anne Rice, nor the stylish monsters from Underworld or Blade. The characters from Thirst are realistic and imperfect persons with a strange illness which tests their conscience, as well as their capacity to survive one more day at the expense of losing their humanity.

So, despite not being an excellent film, I liked Thirst pretty much, and I think it deserves a safe recommendation as a very interesting experience which I would not classify as a "horror film", but as an intense passional drama with supernatural subjects which work as analogies of the reasoning and the spirituality when they are cloudy by the passion.

I won't bore you with any synopsis, chances are you already know them. And hopefully you are already familiar with Park Chan-Wook's work.

I STRONGLY disagree with some of the other commentators in saying that "Park has not moved on from the vengeance trilogy blah blah blah." Because you know what? He HAS!!! The vengeance trilogy were different from each other in style to begin with, how can you even compare the sombreness and subtlety of "Sympathy For Mr Vengeance" with the frantic and extravagance of "Oldboy"? Park Chan-Wook has incredible style, but his movies don't all share the SAME style! That has been true and remains true with the release of "Thirst".

"Thirst" is an incredible picture, it literally has EVERYTHING you want in a movie. Jaw-dropping violence, tasteful gore, great humour, incredible suspense and even very realistic sex scenes. The story is so crazy that at no point can you guess what will happen next. I'm so happy to say that Park is back in top form with this fantastic dark-comic-vampire-love-story. Watch it as soon as you can!