Thirst (2009 film)
| Thirst | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Park Chan Wook |
| Written by | Park Chan Wook Seo Gyeong Jeong |
| Produced by | Park Chan Wook |
| Starring | Song Kang Ho Kim Ok Bin Shin Ha Kyun |
| Cinematography | Jeong Jeong Hun |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment Focus Features Moho Films Universal Pictures |
Release dates | South Korea: April 30, 2009 United States: July 31, 2009 (limited) |
Running time | 133 minutes / 145 minutes (2009 PIFF) |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Budget | $5,000,000[citation needed] |
| Box office | $11,729,219 (worldwide)[1] |
Thirst (Korean: 박쥐; RR: Bakjwi) is a 2009 horror/drama film, written and directed by Park Chan Wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance). It is loosly based on the novel Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola.[2] The film tells the story of a priest, who is in love with his friend’s wife turning into a vampire through a failed medical experiment.[3] Park has stated, "This film was originally called "The Bat" to convey a sense of horror. After all, it is about vampires. But it is also more than that. It is about passion and a love triangle. I feel that it is unique because it is not just a thriller, and not merely a horror film, but an illicit love story as well."[4] It is the first mainstream Korean film to feature full-frontal male nudity.[5] The film won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
Synopsis
Sang Hyun (Song Kang Ho) is a priest whose free time is spent volunteering at the local hospital and providing ministry to the patients. He is well respected for his unwavering faith and the dedicated service he provides to all those around him, but he secretly suffers from overwhelming feelings of doubt and sadness about living in a world that seems to be drowning in suffering and death.
After getting fed up with the endless cycle of human suffering that the world offers, Sang Hyun volunteers to participate in an experiment to find a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV) with the hope of saving even one life. Although the experiment fails disastrously and Sang Hyun is infected with the seemingly fatal disease, he makes a complete and rapid recovery.
News of his marvelous recovery is quickly spread to the devout parishioners of Sang Hyun’s congregation, and they begin to believe that the man has a miraculous gift for healing. Soon, thousands more people flock to Sang Hyun’s services. Among the new churchgoers are Kang Woo ( Shin Ha Kyun), Sang Hyun’s childhood friend, and his family. Later on, Kang Woo invites his old friend to join the weekly mahjong night at his house, and there, Sang Hyun finds himself precariously drawn to Kang Woo’s wife, Tae Ju (Kim Ok Bin). Suddenly, Sang Hyun relapses into his illness; he coughs up blood and passes away. The next day however, he opens his eyes in dire need of shelter from the sweltering sunlight; thus he has become a vampire.
At first, Sang Hyun feels a new found vigor and is energized by his insistent bodily desires, but soon, he is aghast to find himself sucking down blood from a comatose patient in the hospital. After attempting to kill himself, he finds that he is drawn back to the taste of human blood against his will. To make matters worse, the symptoms of E.V. have come roaring back. Desperately trying to avoid committing a murder, he resorts to stealing blood transfusion packs from the hospital. Tae Ju, now living with her ill husband and her over-protective mother-in-law, Lady Ra (Kim Hae Sook), leads a dreary and unhappy life.
She finds herself drawn to Sang Hyun and his odd new physicality, and his inability to resist his desires. The two begin an affair, but when Tae Ju first discovers the truth about Sang Hyun’s new lifestyle, she retreats in fear. When Sang Hyun pleads with her to run away with him she turns him down, suggesting that they kill her husband instead.[4]
Reception
Prominent film critic Roger Ebert awarded Thirst three out of a possible four stars, citing that the director was "todays most successful director of horror films."[7] The website IGN awarded the film three and a half out of five stars and said "Thirst may not be the greatest vampire movie ever made, but Park's willingness to try something different makes it a decidedly fresh take on the genre."[8]
Box Office
The film earned ₩1,174,224,500 on its first day of release and gained more than ₩5,612 million on that three-day weekend. On May 3, Thirst debuted at number one at the South Korean Box office and grossed ₩6,786,388,000,[citation needed] with more than 1 million tickets sold nationwide.[9]
DVD Release
Universal Studios Home Entertainment are to release a region 1 DVD of Thirst on November 17, 2009.[10] No extras were listed, but the film was produced in anamorphic widescreen with Korean DD5.1 Surround audio and subtitles in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
Cast
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- Song Kang Ho as Sang Hyun
- Kim Ok Bin as Tae Ju
- Shin Ha Kyun as Kang Woo
- Kim Hae Sook as Lady Ra, Tae Ju's mother-in-law
- Eriq Ebouaney as Immanuel
- Hwang Woo Seul Hye as Girl with a whistle
- Mercedes Cabral as Evelyn
Extended Cast
- Young Chang Song as Seung Dae
- Dal Su Oh as Young Du
- Hee Jin Choi as Nurse
- Mi Ran Ra as Nurse Yu
- Choi Jong Ryeol as Old man
- Woo Seul Hye Hwang
- Jong Ryul Choi
References
- ^ Thirst tops Korean box office over holiday weekend, Screen Daily, 2009/05/05. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
- ^ "THIRST (BAK-JWI, 2009)—Interview with Park Chan-wook". Twitch. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Bloody Disgusting Horror — "Thirst (Kr)" Movie Info". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Thirst" (PDF). Haf.org.hk. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ^ Carpenter, Cassie. "Quenching His 'Thirst'". Back Stage, August 3, 2009. Retrieved on September 26, 2009.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Thirst". Festival Cannes. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (August 13, 2009). "Thirst". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Utichi, Joe (May 15, 2009). "Cannes 09: Thirst Review". IGN UK. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
- ^ "Thirst". Haf.org.hk. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ^ THIRST Comes to DVD November 17th, Horror Movies, 2009/09/21. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Thirst (R1) in November, DVD Times, 2009/09/15. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
External links
- Official website
- Thirst at IMDb
- Thirst at Rotten Tomatoes
- Thirst at Metacritic
- Thirst at AllMovie
- Thirst at Box Office Mojo
- Thirst at the Korean Movie Database
- Thirst at HanCinema
- Interview with Writer/Director Park Chan Wook at The Korea Society
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