2009 | 149 MIN | Horror, Drama

DIRECTOR PARK Chan-wook

CAST SONG Kang-ho, KIM Ok-vin, SHIN Ha-kyun, KIM Hae-sook

RELEASE DATE April 30, 2009

CONTACT CJ Entertainment

Tel +82-2-371-5500 

Fax +82-2-371-6340 

For Korean film fans in 2009, far and away the most anticipated projects at the time were BONG Joon-ho’s Mother and PARK Chan-wook’s Thirst. Both debuted at the Cannes Film Festival but while Mother was quickly embraced by viewers around the world, PARK’s film, despite earning the Jury Prize from the Cannes jury, immediately divided critics and audiences. Loosely adapted from Emile ZOLA’s 19th-century novel Thérèse Raquin, PARK’s unusual contribution to the vampire canon was a bold new step for the filmmaker and continues to challenge viewers to this day.

Catholic priest Sang-hyun (SONG Kang-ho) volunteers at a hospital and though well-liked, he is disillusioned. Seeking some kind of escape, he volunteers to be a guinea pig in a vaccine trial for a lethal virus in Africa, which only affects sexually inactive men. The trial fails and he dies, only to come back to life moments later.

News of his miraculous recovery returns with him to Korea, where he is treated as a saint and a healer by legions of believers. Mrs. Ra (KIM Hae-sook) approaches Sang-hyun and begs him to cure her ailing son Kang-woo (SHIN Ha-kyun). Kang-woo turns out to be Sang-hyun’s childhood acquaintance and he begins visiting their home for weekly games of mahjong, where he meets Kang-woo’s miserable wife Tae-ju (KIM Ok-vin).

Shortly after coming back to Korea, Sang-hyun’s senses sharpen but suddenly his disease returns. He discovers that he has become a vampire and he finds ways to acquire human blood without killing anyone to keep the illness at bay. When he meets Tae-ju, a new desire forbidden by the cloth torments within him, a desire she clearly shares. 

With its priest protagonist and vampiric themes, Thirst initially positions itself as a film exploring catholic guilt, one which suggests that salvation may not be within reach. However, once Tae-ju is added to the film (a febrile and scabrous performance by the revelatory KIM Ok-vin) the film trans-forms itself into a fatalistic and deeply erotic romance.

Sang-hyun meets Tae-ju by Kang-woo’s hospital bed, but the spark only occurs after Sang-hyun is forced out of his ascetic surroundings and finds himself in Mrs. Ra’s unusual home, which is directly above her ‘Happy Hanbok’ garment store. Its cluttered rooms are a culture clash like no other, with Russian vodka, French patterns, old Korean furniture, a waterbed and a Chinese board game all vying for the limited space on offer. Out of his element and confronted by characters who embrace the small pleasures in their lives, this is where Sang-hyun begins to shed his piety and embrace his own, more consequential desires.

This incongruous mix of themes and cultural devices give Thirst an exceptionally unusual aura, and it is to PARK’s great credit that he orchestrates all these elements seamlessly. Yet, as with his other works, all would be for naught were it not for the superlative contributions of his chief technical collaborators - production designed RYU Seong-hee, cinematographer CHUNG Chung-hoon, composer CHO Young-wook, costume designer CHO Sang-gyeong and hair and makeup designer SONG Jong-hee.

Thirst exists in two versions, a 133-minute theatrical cut and a 149-minute director’s cut, which is available on Blu-ray. Unlike the director’s cut of The Handmaiden (2016), which presents a completely different chronology, the DC of Thirst largely features extended scenes, with a few additions that do little to impact the main narrative. However, the film does feel different, as it leans a little more into themes of guilt (or repudiations of guilt, as with an unusual confession made to Sang-hyun by a doctor), while the texture afforded by some details that didn’t make the theatrical cut give the film a smoother flow. Director PARK has stated that the director’s cut is his preferred version, but he recommends that first-time viewers start with the theatrical version.