| Thirst | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 박쥐 |
| RR | Bakjwi |
| MR | Pakchwi |
| Directed by | Park Chan-wook |
| Screenplay by | Park Chan-wook Jeong Seo-kyeong |
| Based on | Thérèse Raquin byÉmile Zola |
| Produced by | Park Chan-wook Ahn Soo-hyun |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Chung Chung-hoon |
| Edited by | Kim Sang-bum Kim Jae-bum |
| Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 134 minutes[3] |
| Countries | |
| Languages | |
| Budget | $5 million[4] |
| Box office | $13.5 million[5][6] |
Thirst (Korean:박쥐;RR:Bakjwi;lit. 'Bat') is a 2009horror film written, produced and directed byPark Chan-wook. Based on the 1867 novelThérèse Raquin byÉmile Zola,[7] the film starsSong Kang-ho as Sang-hyun, aCatholic priest who turns into avampire as a result of a failed medical experiment, and falls in love with Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), the wife of his childhood friend (Shin Ha-kyun).[8]
An international co-production of South Korea and the United States,Thirst was released in South Korea on 30 April 2009, where it was a commercial success. It received generally positive reviews from critics and won theJury Prize at the2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it was also nominated for thePalme d'Or.
Catholic priest Sang-hyun volunteers at a hospital, providing ministry to the patients. He eventually volunteers to participate in an experiment to find a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV). The experiment fails, and Sang-hyun is infected with EV, but makes a complete and rapid recovery after receiving a blood transfusion.
News of his recovery spreads among the parishioners of Sang-hyun's congregation, and they begin to believe that he has a gift for healing. Soon, thousands flock to Sang-hyun's services. Among the new churchgoers are Kang-woo, Sang-hyun's childhood friend, and his family. Kang-woo eventually invites Sang-hyun to join the weekly mahjong night at his house. There, Sang-hyun finds himself attracted to Kang-woo's wife, Tae-ju. Sang-hyun later relapses into his illness and wakes in need of shelter from the sunlight, having become avampire.
Sang-hyun soon finds himself drinking blood from a comatose patient. Aghast, Sang-hyun attempts to commit suicide, but finds himself irresistibly drawn to human blood. EV's symptoms return and only seem to go away when he drinks blood. Trying to avoid committing a murder, Sang-hyun resorts to stealing blood transfusion packs from the hospital.
Tae-ju, who lives with her ill husband and overprotective mother-in-law Mrs. Ra, eventually begins an affair with Sang-hyun. However, when she discovers the truth about Sang-hyun, she retreats in fear. When Sang-hyun pleads with her to run away with him, she turns him down, suggesting that they kill Kang-woo instead.[9]
When Sang-hyun's superior at the monastery requests vampire blood so that his eyes may heal and he may see the world before dying, a disgusted Sang-hyun flees from the monastery. He moves into Mrs. Ra's house so that he may secretly have sex with Tae-ju. Sang-hyun notices bruises on Tae-ju and assumes that Kang-woo is the cause, a suspicion that she confirms. Sang-hyun decides to kill Kang-woo during a fishing trip with the couple. He pulls Kang-woo into the water and claims to his superior that he placed the body inside a cabinet in a house at the bottom of the lake, putting a rock on the body to keep it from floating to the surface. When Sang-hyun's symptoms return, he kills his superior and drinks his blood.
A police investigation ensues. Mrs. Ra drinks often after Kang-woo's death, sinking into a completelyparalyzed state. Sang-hyun and Tae-ju are haunted by visions of Kang-woo's corpse. When Tae-ju lets slip that Kang-woo never abused her, Sang-hyun is enraged because he only killed Kang-woo to protect her. Distraught, she asks Sang-hyun to kill her and let her return to Kang-woo. Sang-hyun kills her, but after feeding on her blood, decides that he does not want to be alone forever and feeds her corpse his own blood. She awakens as a vampire. Mrs. Ra, knocked to the floor by a seizure, witnesses everything.
Tae-ju soon starts killing indiscriminately to feed, while Sang-hyun acts more conservatively, only killing when necessary. Their conflicting ethics result in a chase across the rooftops and a battle. Mrs. Ra eventually manages to communicate to Kang-woo's friends that Sang-hyun and Tae-ju killed her son. Tae-ju kills two of the friends, and Sang-hyun appears to eliminate a third one. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sang-hyun tells Tae-ju that they must flee or be caught. Sang-hyun then places Mrs. Ra in his car and drives into the night with Tae-ju. Before leaving town, he makes a visit to the camp of people who worship him. He makes it seem like he tried torape a girl, leading the campers to chase him away, no longer idolizing him.
At the house, the third friend escapes; whom Sang-hyun only pretended to kill to protect her from Tae-ju. Meanwhile, Sang-hyun drives to a desolate field with no cover from the imminent dawn. Realizing his plan to have them both burn when dawn breaks, Tae-ju tries to hide but Sang-hyun foils her every attempt. Resigning herself to her fate, she joins him on the car hood, and both are burnt to ash by the sun, as Mrs. Ra watches from the backseat of the car.
"This film was originally calledThe Bat to convey a sense of horror—after all, it is about vampires. But it is also more than that. It is about passion and alove triangle. I feel that it is unique because it is not just athriller, and not merely a horror film, but an illicit love story as well."
Thirst had been in the works for a number of years prior to the film's shooting and release. As early asJoint Security Area, director Park Chan-wook had asked Song Kang-ho to star in a vampire film Park was developing.[10] Park further developed the film's story with co-writer Chung Seo-kyung while the two collaborated onLady Vengeance andI'm a Cyborg, But That's OK.[10]
Once greenlit,Thirst became the first Korean feature made with both Korean and U.S. studio funding and distribution, withCJ Entertainment andFocus Features partnering on the film's production.[10] The film is also the first mainstream Korean film to feature full-frontal adult male nudity.[11]
Thirst received positive reviews from critics on its original release;review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 81% based on reviews from 119 critics. The site's critics consensus reads, "The stylishThirst packs plenty of bloody thrills to satisfy fans of both vampire films and director Chan Wook Park."[12] AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 73 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]
Film criticRoger Ebert awardedThirst three out of a possible four stars, citing that the director was "today's most successful director of horror films".[14]IGN's Joe Utichi awarded the film three-and-a-half out of five stars and said "Thirst may not be the greatestvampire movie ever made, but Park's willingness to try something different makes it a decidedly fresh take on the genre."[15]
On 3 May,Thirst debuted at #1 at the South Korean Box office and grossed₩1,174,224,500 the first day and₩4,369,977,022 for that three-day weekend.[16][17] More than 2,223,429 tickets were sold nationwide becoming the 9th most attended film of 2009.[18]
| Award | Year | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannes Film Festival | 2009 | Jury Prize | Thirst | Won | [19] |
| Palme d'Or | Thirst | Nominated | |||
| Chunsa Film Art Awards | 2009 | Best Director | Park Chan-wook | Won | |
| Best Actor | Song Kang-ho | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Kim Hae-sook | Won | |||
| Best Lighting | Park Hyun-won | Won | |||
| Grand Bell Awards | 2009 | Best Lighting | Park Hyun-won | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Kim Hae-sook | Nominated | |||
| Blue Dragon Film Awards | 2009 | Best Supporting Actress | Kim Hae-sook | Won | |
| Best Music | Jo Yeong-wook | Won | |||
| Best Film | Thirst | Nominated | |||
| Best Director | Park Chan-wook | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor | Song Kang-ho | Nominated | |||
| Best Actress | Kim Ok-vin | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Shin Ha-kyun | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Chung Chung-hoon | Nominated | |||
| Best Art Direction | Ryu Seong-hui | Nominated | |||
| Best Lighting | Park Hyun-won | Nominated | |||
| Director's Cut Awards | 2009 | Best Director | Park Chan-wook | Won | |
| Best Actor | Song Kang-ho | Won | |||
| Asian Film Awards | 2010 | Best Visual Effects | Lee Seon-hyeong | Won | |
| Best Actor | Song Kang-ho | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Chung Chung-hoon | Nominated | |||
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2010 | Best Film | Thirst | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Kim Ok-vin | Nominated |
Universal Studios Home Entertainment released aregion 1 DVD ofThirst on 17 November 2009.[20] No extras are included, but the film was produced in anamorphic widescreen with Korean DD5.1 Surround audio and subtitles in English, English SDH, French and Spanish. The director's cut, running 148 minutes, has been so far released in Korea only, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.[citation needed]
