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Released by: Palisades Tartan UK
Released on: 1/25/2010
Director: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Kang-ho Song, Shin Ha-kyun
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
It's interesting that after the fairly universal acclaim that his 'Vengeance Trilogy' received that South Korean director Park Chan-wook would go in a completely different direction with his latest effort, Thirst. At the same time, it becomes obvious as you watch the film that, like all of his pictures, it's not entirely unrelated. Many of the same themes and ideas that he explored in those earlier films are worked over again, though to very different effect.
The film follows a Catholic priest named Sang-hyeon (Kang-ho Song) who volunteers to help out with a vaccine project but inadvertently becomes very ill and winds up needing a blood transfusion which turns him into a vampire. In order to satiate his need to feed on human blood he starts volunteering at a hospital where the supply of patients, many of whom are on their death bed, prove to be a very fertile feeding ground and one which allows him to feed with the least amount of damage done to his conscience and morals.
Soon enough, Sang-hyeon runs into an old friend of his (Shin Ha-kyun) and starts coming to their family home to play majong. Here he meets and falls in love with his beautiful Filipina wife, a good Catholic girl named Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin). He soon realizes that the feeling is mutual and the pair being a secret love affair and eventually he lets her know the truth about his condition. When she learns this, she wants him to give her the same eternal life he has, and he obliges. The plot becomes more complicated when Sang-hyeon murders Tae-ju's husband. She's happy to finally be free of the restraints that he put on her, and goes on a bit of a feeding frenzy. While all of this is going on, Tae-ju's mother-in-law (Kim Hae-sook) becomes paralyzed and is turned into a complete vegetable. While the priest wrestles with his morality, his devotion to the church and the vows he made, he realizes he needs absolution and asks the blind mentor who has helped him throughout his career as a man of the cloth for help.
An interesting look at the battle that our central character wages between his devotion to the church and his physical needs, Thirst takes its black comedy elements about as far as it can without ever teetering over the edge into the ridiculousness that plagues so many movies about vampires. Yes Sang-hyeon is a tortured soul to an extent, and we see how it pains him, initially at least, to pass off his religious convictions and give in to the lusts he feels for physical pleasure and for blood, but it's completely in keeping with his character and never overdone. What's fascinating about the film is how his relationship with Tae-ju evolves over the course of the film. They change one another in a few different ways and as she overcomes her initial hesitation and literal fear of this creature she's slowly becoming attached to, like a teenager away from home for the first time she cuts loose and runs with it. All of this has repercussions, of course, but there's an interesting simplicity to all of it that makes the plot and the two central characters easier to relate to than they would have been otherwise.
The performances are strong across the board and the film is quite well cast, and on top of that it is frequently beautiful to look at. The cinematography is striking and very fluid, and the editing compliments this as does the classical score that accompanies the visuals. All in all, it's a humorous and sometimes unsettling look at lust, faith, perversion and mortality all wrapped up in a beautiful package that allows the story to unfold just exactly as it should.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Thirst looks great in this AVC encoded 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen 1080p high definition transfer. The color scheme that's been employed in this film definitely leans towards the cool side as lots of blues and greens and browns and blacks make up much of the background. The color reproduction seen here is very strong across the board, and everything looks quite natural here without taking away from the more painterly aspects of the production's backdrops. Fine detail is strong, there's some nice texture in the clothing that the characters wear and you can make out a lot of the gruesome boils and wounds that certain characters show off during the movie. Black levels are strong and deep if a little short of reference quality. There are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts to note, nor is there any obvious edge enhancement. Light grain is present throughout the movie, but it's never overpowering and while the odd speck may show up here and there on the transfer, this is otherwise a clean and well authored disc.
The sole audio track on this Blu-ray disc is a Korean language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track with optional subtitles provided in English. This isn't the most active track you'll ever here but it is very well put together with a lot of subtle background detail present throughout the mix and a lot of really well placed directionality. Bass response is strong without ever overpowering anything while dialogue is always clear. There are no problems with balance nor with hiss or distortion. The only complain here is that the subtitles periodically run from the bottom of the picture to the black matte underneath, but really, this is nitpicking, as this is otherwise a very strong mix.
There are two main extras on this disc, the first of which is a fourteen minute interview with Park Chan-wook conducted by British journalist Jessica Mellor. Here the pair talk about the transitions that the characters make and how they evolve over the course of the film as well as what it was like for the director to make this decidedly different picture and how it compares to his other films. The second extra is a fourteen minute featurette entitled Masterclass Highlights where Park talks about the importance of the female characters throughout his filmography, how he works these characters differently, and how he goes about getting his projects off the ground and finished. Both supplements are in Korean with English subtitles and while a bit brief, are quite interesting.
Rounding out the extras is the film's trailer, some nice animated menus, and chapter selection. All of the extra features on this release are presented in high definition.
The Final Word:
At times darkly comedic, touching and romantic and repulsive, Thirst is always fascinating to watch. It's beautifully shot and scored, well paced and directed and expertly acted and the Blu-ray from Palisades Tartan, while a little light on supplements, is a great way to enjoy this wholly exceptional film.