Focus Features recently premiered another awesome clip from the upcoming film, Thirst, directed by award-winning auteur, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance)! Make sure to check it out – it’s another cool clip from this highly anticipated film!
Focus Features premiered a clever and deep film clip from the upcoming film, Thirst, directed by award-winning auteur, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance).
Song Kang-ho (The Host) plays Sang-hyun a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But the virus takes the priest, and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun lives – but now exists as a vampire. Struggling with his newfound carnal desire for blood, Sang-hyun’s faith is further strained when a childhood friend’s wife, Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), comes to him asking for his help in escaping her life. Sang-hyun soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.
Most likely I will be hiding low in my seat in the movie theater when this film comes to town. You can see the trailer by clicking here.
A priest becomes a vampire…another man’s wife is coveted…a deadly seduction triggers murder. Thirstis the new film from director Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). Already a box office smash in Korea, Thirst was honored with the Prix du Jury [Jury Prize] at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.
Continuing his explorations of human existence in extreme circumstances, the director spins a tale that he conceived and then developed over several years with co-screenwriter Chung Seo-kyung.
Sang-hyun (played by top Korean star Song Kang-ho, of The Host) is a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But the virus takes the priest, and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun lives – but now exists as a vampire. Struggling with his new found carnal desire for blood, Sang-hyun’s faith is further strained when a childhood friend’s wife, Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), comes to him asking for his help in escaping her life. Sang-hyun soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.
I am not a fan of movies like this, but I am sure some of you are. Thirst is getting raves from horror fans. I should warn you, though, that the trailer is age restricted. Yikes!!!
Vampire movies are all the bloody rage. Having seen a slumber for the past few years (possibly due to the awful Queen of the Damned, or Buffy and Angel overdosing us), the genre of sunlight-intolerant bloodsuckers is seeing a resurgence in the last year or so. The key player is Twilight, which transposes notions of abstainance upon a figure that traditionally represented a fear of sexuality, and its sequels are already confirmed. A remake of the Manga film Blood: The Last Vampire is in production. HBO series True Blood got great reviews and a commendable portion of the audience. Outside of the US the Norwegian film Let the Right One In received much acclaim and is already set to see a Hollywood remake. And now Korea is in on the resurgence.
Park Chan Wook is best known for the inventive and excellent thriller Old Boy, not to mention the other two parts of his Vengeance Trilogy. After making the minor I’m A Cyborg… the director is back on track with Thirst. It’s the atmospheric tale of a priest who gets turned into some sort of vampire creature as part of a botched experiment. The best vampire films are the ones who use it as a metaphor for some social or personal malaise. And this film seems to use the vampire figure to represent repressed religious feelings or a sense of doubt. The trailer is in Korean, but the visuals are strong enough to make Thirst seem like an intriguing tale. Thirst will appear in this month’s Cannes Film Festival, and should see a worldwide release later in the year.
