REVIEW: DVD Release: Thirst

Film: Thirst
Release date: 25th January 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 133 mins
Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Sang Kang-ho, Kim Ok-vin
Genre: Drama/Romance/Horror
Studio: Palisades Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: South Korea

DVD Special Features:
• Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 and half-rate DTS 5.1 audio options
• Trailer
• UK exclusive interview with Park Chan-wook

Blu-ray Special Features:
• Edited highlights from the NFT Masterclass
• Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 and half-rate DTS 5.1 audio options
• Trailer
• UK exclusive interview with Park Chan-wook

Having stunned audiences in the past with the likes of “Oldboy”, hopes were high that Park Chan-wook would reinvigorate the vampire film genre that America has devalued in recent years with effectively teenage soap operas, but were critics who hailed its release and awarded it the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival merely desperate?

No chiselled features and ripped torsos here, film-maker Park takes inspiration from Emile Zola’s novel 'Therese Raquin' to tell the original and provocative story of priest Sang-hyun, who, having become despondent with his calling’s inability to directly help the gravely ill around him, volunteers as a guinea pig for scientists testing a new vaccine for a deadly virus – despite knowing that he’s more than likely to experience a painful death.

Quickly, the disease does in fact take hold – at one point we see him haemorrhage gruesomely – with a blood transfusion ordered to try and save his life. As the only survivor (with the figure escalating from 50 to 500), he is seen as a saviour by those looking for cures for themselves and loved ones. One such person is the mother of an old school friend, who is dying from cancer. Renewing this close relationship with the family, he grows sympathetic to the mistreated wife, Tae-ju, with whom he strikes up a sinful affair.

Now operating covered up during the day – which garners him the nickname “the bandaged saint” – Sang-hyun continues on this mission to do good, but is becoming increasingly aware and in continuous conflict with changes in himself, not only as a blood-thirsty vampire, but in his desire to satisfy his sexual cravings…


Director Park Chan-wook has always excelled in putting his audiences on edge, and there are plenty of moments of ill ease here. Where most movie makers in this genre would build up to gruesome pay offs, the blood splatter here is more matter of fact; the real wince inducing, look away moments come as the priest battles against his own faith - for example, striking himself with a metal ruler between his legs when lustful thoughts enter his mind - or when Tae-ju’s devious plans gather momentum – we see her stabbing herself in the legs to fabricate mistreatment from her husband.

The sex scenes also make for uncomfortable viewing – far from titillating viewers with exaggerated passion, they capture the troubled nature of both characters. One scene, where Sang-hyun is fervently kissing Tae-ju’s feet, as she sucks his fingers zealously, is particularly repellent.

He once again always fills his world with dark and depraved characters - the mood is kept suitably strange and creepy, and there is little sympathy felt for anyone other than the father who was ultimately forced into this world and way of living as a by-product of a selfless act (his ever strong good nature manipulated by others).

There are also some brilliantly dark comic touches – when he lies on his back to feed from a drip tube keeping a coma patient alive, or fills cans from the same obese patient as he bed baths him – the use of which is so often devoid in Western cinema in this genre, yet is so effective in creating that subtle sinister mood.

Bar a scene where the couple jump from root-top to roof-top during a domestic, the special effects are kept to a minimum, as his senses heighten we see him view his skin to microscopic extent, and we view the arteries of Tae-ju heightened through her skin, but these are used sparingly, and only when necessary to convey the changes in him and his inner battles. Not once do we see his fangs, and many clichés and overused plot paths for this genre are no doubt intentionally avoided - concentrating on story and character development adds to the film’s freshness.

If there is any criticism, it’s that Park has to unnecessarily tie up too many loose ends created as the film deviates wildly in a more comical closing half hour, which loses some of its power – perhaps ending the film half an hour earlier, with the audience left to surmise for themselves, would have added to its sense of awe, and the very questioning nature of the film, on so many levels, would have suited a more open-ended conclusion.

Song Kang-ho is perfectly cast in the role of the priest. With his innocent looks you are more easily aware and sympathetic to his anguish – you are never in doubt of his torment as he battles to remain humane and faithful in the face of heightened desires to gauge himself not only on the blood of others but the carnal pleasures he is now unable to resist.

However, the real revelation here is Kim Ok-vin as the put-upon wife. Her transformation from dreary, awkward dogsbody to volatile and confident vamp is masterful – and she clearly revels in the role. It’s questionable if the film would have been as intoxicating without her presence.


Doesn’t quite have the shock value or comparable standout scenes to that of his masterpiece “Oldboy”, but it is another astonishing piece of film-making that has given this immortal sub-genre a much needed jolt. DH