Thirst (2009)
"Bakjwi" (original title)

Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.

Director:

Chan-wook Park

Writers:

Seo-Gyeong Jeong (screenplay), Chan-wook Park (screenplay),

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim

6 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kang-ho Song	...	Priest Sang-hyeon
Ok-bin Kim	...	Tae-ju
Hae-suk Kim	...	Lady Ra
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Kang-woo
In-hwan Park	...	Priest Noh
Dal-su Oh	...	Yeong-doo
Young-chang Song	...	Seung-dae
Mercedes Cabral	...	Evelyn
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Immanuel
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hee-jin Choi	...	Nurse
Woo-seul-hye Hwang	...	Girl with a whistle
Hwa-ryong Lee	...	Professor Ku
Mi-ran Ra	...	Nurse Yu

Storyline

Sang-hyun, a priest working for a hospital, selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to eradicate a deadly virus. However, the virus eventually takes over the priest. He nearly dies, but makes a miraculous recovery by an accidental transfusion of vampire blood. He realizes his sole reason for living: the pleasures of the flesh.

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Plot Keywords:

blood | priest | virus | vampire | lust | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic bloody violence, disturbing images, strong sexual content, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English French

Release Date:

30 April 2009 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Thirst

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$55,889 (USA) (31 July 2009)

Gross:

$296,441 (USA) (21 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Focus Features International (FFI), Moho Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min 145 min (director's cut) 148 min (Blu-ray Disc)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Priest Sang-hyeon: I don't kill anyone, you know. Hoy-sung... He loved helping the hungry. He'd offer me his blood if he wasn't in a coma. If you only heard the sponge cake story.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Rotten Tomatoes Show Year Endies (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Ich habe genug"
(Cantata BWV 82)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Romance, Religion, Madness, and lots of slurping

Not for the squeamish, but the number of twists, inventive uses of situations using vampire mythology, gorgeous visual extremes, together with interesting and quirky characters make this one of the most stunning horror films I've ever seen. It descends into utter madness along with characters, but never seems exploitative or horrific without purpose. There are copious amounts of bloodletting accompanied by some nasty sucking and squishing sounds, but also subtle moments where you laugh out loud. As he tends to do, Chan-wook Park keeps you off center with leaps in time and plot and situation that you have to fill in for yourself forcing your involvement in the story and characters.

And there's a lot of literal leaping. Keeping in the vein of vampire myth (pun intended), they have superhuman strength and can nearly leap tall buildings in a single bound (to coin a phrase). The first time our heroine is carried by the across the tops of buildings by the troubled vampire priest, it has all the magical romance of Lois Lane and Superman - but this romance becomes increasingly disturbing - but driven by a strange and conflicted 'love affair' not by mere horror.

The acting is superb, particularly OK-vin Kim, the gorgeous actress in the female lead role who, at 22, shows a range that is remarkable. The character borders on a kind of black widow film noir type. She careens from innocent to impish to vixen to demon with utter conviction. This is a really smooth and nervy performance.

If you love real art in horror, or are a fan of Oldboy - don't wait for the video, see it immediately.