''Thirst'' ( ko, 박쥐; Bakjwi; literally "bat") is a 2009

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

written, produced and directed by

Park Chan-wook Park Chan-wook ( ; born 23 August 1963) is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic. He is considered as one of the most prominent filmmakers of South Korean cinema as well as world cinema in 21st century. ...

. Loosely based on the 1867 novel '' Thérèse Raquin'' by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

, the film stars Song Kang-ho as Sang-hyun, a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned (" ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers onl ...

who turns into a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

as a result of a failed medical experiment, and falls in love with Tae-ju ( Kim Ok-bin), the wife of his childhood friend (

Shin Ha-kyun Shin may refer to: Biology * The front part of the human leg below the knee * Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates Names * Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: しん), a Japanese gi ...

). 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 the Jury Prize at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

, where it was also nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

Plot

Sang-hyun is a Catholic priest who volunteers at the hospital, providing ministry to the patients. He is well respected for his unwavering faith and dedicated service, but he secretly suffers from feelings of doubt and sadness. Sang-hyun volunteers to participate in an experiment to find a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV). Although the experiment fails, and Sang-hyun is infected with the seemingly fatal disease, he makes a complete and rapid recovery after receiving a blood transfusion. News of his marvelous recovery quickly spreads among the devout parishioners of Sang-hyun's congregation, and they begin to believe that he has a miraculous gift for healing. Soon, thousands more flock to Sang-hyun's services. Among the new churchgoers are Kang-woo, Sang-hyun's childhood friend, and his family. Kang-woo invites his old friend to join the weekly mahjong night at his house, and there, Sang-hyun finds himself attracted to Kang-woo's wife, Tae-ju. Sang-hyun later relapses into his illness and wakes in dire need of shelter from the sunlight, having become a

. At first, Sang-hyun feels a newfound vigor but soon he is aghast to find himself drinking blood from a comatose patient. After attempting to kill himself, Sang-hyun finds himself irresistibly drawn to human blood. To make matters worse, the symptoms of EV return and only seem to go away when he drinks blood. Desperately 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, leads a dreary life. She is drawn to Sang-hyun and his physicality, and unable to resist odd desires for him. The two begin an affair, but when Tae-ju 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 her husband instead. When Sang-hyun's superior at the monastery requests some vampire blood so that his eyes may heal and he may see the world before dying, in disgust Sang-hyun flees from the monastery. He moves into Mrs. Ra's house so that he may secretly bed with Tae-ju. Sang-hyun notices bruises on Tae-ju and assumes her husband is the cause, a suspicion she sheepishly 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. Sang-hyun's symptoms return so he kills his superior at the monastery and feeds on his blood. A police investigation ensues. Mrs. Ra drinks often after her son's death, sinking psychosomatically into a completely paralyzed state. Sang-hyun and Tae-ju are haunted by terrifying visions of Kang-woo's bloated 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. Teary-eyed, she asks Sang-hyun to kill her and let her return to her husband. He obliges by snapping her neck, but after feeding on her blood, decides 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 quickly shows herself to be a remorseless monster, 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 short battle. Some time later, Mrs. Ra manages to communicate to Kang-woo's friends that Sang-hyun and Tae-ju killed her son. Tae-ju quickly disposes of two of the friends, and Sang-hyun appears to eliminate the third. 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 with Tae-ju, drives into the night. Before leaving town, he makes a visit to the camp of worshipers who consider him the miracle EV survivor. He makes it seem like he tried to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

a girl, leading the campers to chase him away, no longer idolizing him. Back at the house, the third friend escapes, whom Sang-hyun only pretended to kill to protect her from Tae-ju. Upon waking from a nap in the car, Tae-ju realizes that Sang-hyun has driven 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.

Cast

* Song Kang-ho as Sang-hyun, a Catholic priest, who volunteers to be a patient of the "Emmanuel Virus," becoming a vampire after receiving blood from an unknown origin. He then struggles to deal with his newfound lust for blood. * Kim Ok-bin as Tae-ju, a young wife of Sang-hyun's childhood friend, fed up with her mundane life while Sang-hyun develops a new love for her. *

Kim Hae-sook Kim Hae-sook (; born December 30, 1955) is a South Korean actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such ...

as Mrs. Ra, the overly protective mother of Kang-woo. *

as Kang-woo, Sang-hyun's sick childhood friend and Tae-ju's husband, whom he annoys and abuses according to her. * Park In-hwan as Priest Roh, a blind priest superior to Sang-hyun, who wishes to see again. * Song Young-chang as Seung-dae, a retired cop and Kang-woo's friend. * Oh Dal-su as Young-du, another one of Kang-woo's friends. *

Ra Mi-ran Ra Mi-ran (born March 6, 1975) is a South Korean actress and television personality. Career Before making her film debut in '' Lady Vengeance'' (2005), Ra Mi-ran spent years acting in theatre. Afterwards, she appeared in more than 40 films but d ...

as Nurse Yu * Eriq Ebouaney as Emmanuel Research Director *

Hwang Woo-seul-hye Hwang Woo-seul-hye (born Hwang Jin-hee on August 10, 1979) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut as a " dumb blonde"-type character in the critically praised black comedy '' Crush and Blush'' (2008). Hwang has since played leading ...

as Whistle Girl *

Mercedes Cabral Mercedes Cabral (born August 10, 1986) is a Filipino actress. She is best known for starring in Philippine arthouse and independent films, notably those by Brillante Mendoza such as '' Serbis'', '' Kinatay'', ''Captive'', and '' Thy Womb''. She ...

as Evelyn, Young-du's Filipino girlfriend.

Production

''Thirst'' had been in the works for a number of years prior to the film's shooting and release. As early as ''

Joint Security Area The Joint Security Area (JSA, often referred to as the Truce Village or Panmunjom) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas for dipl ...

'', director Park Chan-wook had asked Song Kang-ho to star in a vampire film Park was developing. Park further developed the film's story with co-writer Jeong Seo-kyeong while the two collaborated on '' Lady Vengeance'' and ''

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK ''I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK'' ( ko, 싸이보그지만 괜찮아; ''Ssaibogeujiman Gwaenchana'') is a 2006 South Korean romantic comedy film directed by Park Chan-wook. Plot The film takes place mostly in a mental institution filled with an ecl ...

''. Once greenlit, ''Thirst'' became the first Korean feature made with both Korean and U.S. studio funding and distribution, with

CJ Entertainment CJ Entertainment (Hangul: CJ 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film production and distribution company under CJ ENM. The company operates as a film production company, film publishing house, investment and exhibition. History During early 1 ...

and

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in the U ...

partnering on the film's production. The film is also the first mainstream Korean film to feature full-frontal adult male nudity.

Reception

''Thirst'' received generally favorable reviews from critics on its original release;

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports an approval rating of 81% based on reviews from 114 critics, with an average rating of 6.83/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The stylish ''Thirst'' packs plenty of bloody thrills to satisfy fans of both vampire films and director Chan Wook Park." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized 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". Prominent film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

awarded ''Thirst'' three out of a possible four stars, citing that the director was "today's most successful director of horror films." IGN's Joe Utichi awarded the film three-and-a-half out of five stars and said "''Thirst'' may not be the greatest

vampire movie Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...

ever made, but Park's willingness to try something different makes it a decidedly fresh take on the genre."

Box office

On 3 May, ''Thirst'' debuted at #1 at the South Korean Box office and grossed the first day and for that three-day weekend. More than 2,223,429 tickets were sold nationwide becoming the 9th most attended film of 2009.

Awards and nominations

;2009

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

* Jury Prize * Nomination –

;2009

Chunsa Film Art Awards The Chunsa Film Art Awards (also known as the Icheon Chunsa Film Festival) have been presented in South Korea since the founding of the prize by the Korea Film Directors' Society in 1990. The awards take their name from the pen name of the early ...

* Best Director –

* Best Actor – Song Kang-ho * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Lighting – Park Hyun-won ;

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

* Best Lighting – Park Hyun-won * Nomination – Best Supporting Actress –

;

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by '' Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popu ...

* Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Music –

Jo Yeong-wook Jo Yeong-wook (, occasionally romanized as Cho Young-wuk: born January 1, 1962) is a South Korean film music supervisor. He is most widely known for his collaborations with director Park Chan-wook. Filmography Film *'' The Contact'' (199 ...

* Nomination – Best Film * Nomination – Best Director –

* Nomination – Best Actor – Song Kang-ho * Nomination – Best Actress – Kim Ok-bin * Nomination – Best Supporting Actor –

* Nomination – Best Cinematography – Chung Chung-hoon * Nomination – Best Art Direction – Ryu Seong-hee * Nomination – Best Lighting – Park Hyun-won ;2009

Director's Cut Awards The Director's Cut Awards () is an annual awards ceremony for excellence in film in South Korea. It is presented by the Korea Film Director's Network (KFDN), a group of approximately 300 Korean filmmakers. The KFDN selects winners in the Korean f ...

* Best Director –

* Best Actor – Song Kang-ho ;

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Asian Film Awards Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

* Best Visual Effects – Lee Seon-hyeong * Nomination –

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

– Song Kang-ho * Nomination – Best Cinematography – Chung Chung-hoon ;

Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...

* Nomination – Best Film * Nomination – Best Actress (Film) – Kim Ok-bin

Home media

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

released a region 1 DVD of ''Thirst'' on 17 November 2009.THIRST Comes to DVD 17 November
, ''Horror Movies'', 2009/09/21. Retrieved 25 September 2009. No extras are included, but the film was produced in amamorphic 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.

References

External links

* * * * * * *
Interview with Writer/Director Park Chan-wook
at The Korea Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Thirst (2009 Film) 2009 films 2009 horror films 2009 thriller drama films 2000s horror thriller films South Korean horror films South Korean horror thriller films South Korean erotic films 2000s Korean-language films Films directed by Park Chan-wook Adultery in films Films about Catholic priests Films about infectious diseases Films based on French novels Films based on works by Émile Zola South Korean independent films Religious horror films Romantic horror films Vampires in film Focus Features films CJ Entertainment films 2009 drama films French-language Canadian films 2000s English-language films 2000s South Korean films