Thirst (2009) is the latest film by renowned Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook, and while I still recommend checking it out, a couple of things about it are a bit off. To begin, Park unfortunately picked a bad time to release a movie about tragic vampires, as I’m sure some people are going to be referring to this as the Asian Twilight or something to that regard; which of course it is not. Park’s films have always contained an almost operatic air, a back and forth flow of thematic action and consequence in troubled love/relationships which is almost being parodied in modern vampire romance. As well he briefly hinted at vampire love in his short “Cut” from Three Extremes (2004) so I highly doubt he chose the story because of western trends.

A second point of questions is the continuation of a new direction that Chan-Wook started in 2006’s I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK. I feel I might be stuck in a trap of comparing every film he does now to the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) respectively) but it’s hard when those three were so damn good and his recent work just doesn’t compare. While it is and improvement over his last film, it still follows a similar structure of awkward rises and transition. The films in the Vengeance trilogy all felt well paced, with large sweeping rising action, and proper climaxes. Thirst feels more like watching a TV show, with small episodic confrontations followed by fade outs. As well, just as in I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK, the film was a bit long and could have ended either quicker, or at different parts earlier on.

The other stark difference between this new film and his earlier work is an idea of authenticity. Chan-Wook’s films have been known for both his beautiful cinematography and intense brutality. What was truly disturbing about his earlier films was not the depravity of the acts being committed, it was instead the weight that the justifications that the eye for an eye situations brought up. As horrible as the onscreen violence was, you could not help but feel that it needed to happen. It was real violence, the kind of thing you could imagine happening in the real world. Though sick and twisted (and hella stylish), each character had a reason to do what they did and in the end you were almost rooting for them and that is what was so horrifying. Rather than characters in a story, they seemed like people in reality.

Thirst doesn’t make it that far. Perhaps it’s the whole vampire/beast within thing, or the fantastical way the story pans out, either way it just doesn’t reach that level of authenticity. There is no real weight for the actions of the characters. This by no means though makes for a bad movie. On the contrary the characters are really imaginative and entertaining, and the film has plenty (trust me plenty) of cringe worthy moments. The story operates very well with rich dark humor and rather intense violence, peppered with very cute/sweet moments here and there. The two lovers, a catholic priest and woman who has been treated like a dog her whole life, compliment each other very well, providing good comedy, chemistry and drama. As a vampire romance film, Thirst is better than any western film were going to be seeing in the near future.

In the end Thirst makes for a good movie. Rather than being a horror film, I would call it “horror themed”. My bias aside, it’s a new direction for the filmmaker, a bit more popular but not necessarily bad. Check it out if you are in the mood for some good gore and love.

If you have never seen a Park Chan-Wook film, or want to see some really sick and twisted shit, I recommend the following.

Three… Extremes (Sam gang yi) (2004) – Park Chan-Wook, Takashi Miike and Fruit Chan.

One Korean, one Japanese and one Hong Kong filmmaker, team up in one of the most disturbing horror films I have ever seen. This film has become a classic among filmmakers with directors like Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez praising its creativity and style. I highly recommend it if you are into truly edgy psychological and graphic horror.

The Vengeance Trilogy (2002-2005) – Park Chan-Wook

Some of the best Korean films I have ever seen. Violent, horrible and beautiful, these films truly display the filmmaker’s talent in every degree and sickest thoughts of humanity for revenge. I can’t recommend these enough. My one note is to watch Oldboy first, followed by Mr. Vengeance and then Lady Vengeance, just because of the length and quality of the films. In this order they make for an excellent marathon film night.

I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK – Park Chan-Wook

Not his best film, but for Chan-Wook that means its still pretty damn good. Very cutesy and humorous, with some crazy effects, but I still don’t get the ending. Reminds me a bit of Shaking Tokyo (2008) from TOKYO! by Bong Joon-Ho. A good watch with a loved one.

Click here for a trailer and here for showtimes.

(7.5/10)