Thirst

Plot

Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.

Release Year: 2009

Rating: 7.2/10 (14,214 voted)

Critic's Score: 73/100

Director:
Chan-wook Park

Stars: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim

Storyline
Sang-hyun, a priest working for a hospital, selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to eradicate a deadly virus. However, the virus eventually takes over the priest. He nearly dies, but makes a miraculous recovery by an accidental transfusion of vampire blood. He realizes his sole reason for living: the pleasures of the flesh.

Writers: Chan-wook Park, Émile Zola

Cast:

Kang-ho Song
–

Priest Sang-hyeon

Ok-bin Kim
–

Tae-ju

Hae-suk Kim
–

Lady Ra

Ha-kyun Shin
–

Kang-woo

In-hwan Park
–

Priest Noh

Dal-su Oh
–

Yeong-doo

Young-chang Song
–

Seung-dae

Mercedes Cabral
–

Evelyn

Eriq Ebouaney
–

Immanuel

Hee-jin Choi
–

Nurse

Woo-seul-hye Hwang
–

Girl with a whistle

Hwa-ryong Lee
–

Professor Ku

Mi-ran Ra
–

Nurse Yu

Details

Official Website:
Official site |
Official site [Japan] |

Release Date: 30 April 2009

Box Office Details

Budget: $5,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $55,889
(USA)
(2 August 2009)
(4 Screens)

Gross: $227,873
(USA)
(16 August 2009)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min
 |
South Korea: 145 min
(director's cut)
 |
Canada: 148 min
(Blu-ray Disc)

Quotes:

Priest Sang-hyeon:
I don't kill anyone, you know. Hoy-sung… He loved helping the hungry. He'd offer me his blood if he wasn't in a coma. If you only heard the sponge cake story.

User Review

Beautiful, tragic, twisted, absurd, and darkly comic

Rating: 9/10


If you love Chan-wook Park, you know what to expect. His films are
brutal, poetic, tragic, and artistic, with splashes of very grim humor.
THIRST is clearly Park's style, and I loved every second of it, from
the cinematography (every shot is gorgeous and creative) to the story,
which blends Shakespearean tragedy, murderous love, Gothic horror, and
layered character drama. The characters are complex and there is plenty
of moral ambiguity to go around. Even the most sociopathic character
evokes sympathy. The direction is restrained and the performances are
nuanced – like SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, there are too many
subtleties to take in on the first viewing. Chan-wook Park is an
intelligent, bold, consistently surprising filmmaker. It's
unpredictable – scenes go from brutal and heart-wrenching to
laugh-out-loud hilarious in an instant. This is closer to LADY
VENGEANCE then SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE as far as being over-the-top
and comical. But, like LADY VENGEANCE, it's incredibly rich,
thought-provoking, and rewarding.

If you like beautifully told vampire stories (LET THE RIGHT ONE IN) or
are a fan of Chan-wook Park, seeing THIRST should be obvious. Easily
one of the best films of 2009.