Thirst

B+

Directed by Chan wook Park

Chan wook Park's eagerly anticipated vampire movie "Thirst" arrived at Fantasia hot off of a Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and amid excessively high expectations from Park's local fanbase. Although "Thirst" contains much of what one would expect from a Park film--a flair for the dramatic, visual fireworks and a healthy dose of weirdness--it nevertheless fails to live up to some of Park's earlier and better known works.

"Thirst" opens as Sang-hyeon, a devout Catholic priest, willfully infects himself with the deadly Emmanuel Virus in order to test his faith in God. Hope against hope, he survives the virus and soon find himself elevated to semi-sainthood by his Catholic flock. He soon discovers, however, that the virus is simply in temporary remission and the only way to prevent a relapse is by drinking human blood. At the same time, Sang-hyeon begins to be drawn away from his calling as a priest and further towards desires of the flesh, leading him to pursue a highly illicit romance with the wife of one of his childhood acquaintances.

I may have been expecting too much from Chan wook Park (and based on his track record, who could blame me) but "Thirst" left me a bit nonplussed. Yes, it was aesthetically pleasing, well acted, and contained many flourishes of the brilliance that has made Park a household name but the overall cohesiveness of it didn't measure up to most of Park's other works, especially his Vengeance Trilogy. One of the reasons for this is that "Thirst" appears to lack any of the clear narrative focus that typified many of Park's earlier films. In his Vengeance Trilogy, for instance, a character is always wronged in some way and goes after the person (or persons) that have wronged them in search of retribution. In "Thirst," there appears to be no real focus beyond following the trials and tribulations of (the priest) as he struggles with his new, blood thirsty, identity.

That said, this is still a Chan wook Park film which means it contains its fair share of brilliant moments. Park is, like many Asian directors, endlessly inventive but what really sets him apart is how polished his films are while still brimming with creativity. Even before he hit the big time and secured significant financing for his films, Park's work was always crisp, clean, and aesthetically flawless. "Thirst" is no disappointment in that regard, the film's visual impact and editing are both remarkable and elevate the film from mediocre and meandering to enjoyable and worthwhile. Park's command of the medium are not enough, however, to vault "Thirst" into the rarefied air of "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance" but it's nevertheless worth watching.