I thought it was Twilight for adults.
Completely predictable and unengaging.
I found Thirst to be a vast improvement over Lady Vengeance, which was to me a complete disappointment. The only connection with Twilight is that it has vampires in it (you might as well call Let The Right One In Twilight for adults while you’re at it, Fredo). Thematically, it’s actually the opposite of Twilight since it embraces moral corruption and worldliness. The CGI didn’t bother me at all. I’m not sure what you mean by it being unnecessary or cheesy. Park does what he does best – take a high-concept in a well-established genre (a priest becomes a vampire) and mess with it.
style over substance. it had a great feel and look to it, but not enough happened after the priest discovers he is a vampire. i found it enjoyable though.
I don’t know how it could possibly be a vast improvement over Lady Vengeance. Thirst pales in comparison.
While this is not Chan Wook Park’s best work I did enjoy it. I liked the comedic tone of the movie. In this way i think it brought something new to the genre without being slapstick like other comedic takes have been. I thought the movie looked great and provided good entertainment value, a bit less complex and more lighthearted than some of his other movies. But I didn’t think it was a masterpiece by any means. I thought it would be darker but did appreciate it for what it was. There were a a few very powerful scenes including the final scene in which there is nothing left to do but burn. I loved Old Boy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I thought this was in line with Lady Vengeance. I thought both were successful. I think perhaps many of you , like myself, were probably expecting brilliance, as we’ve come accustomed to with Chan Wook Park. In this sense it was a bit of a let down, but I liked it nonetheless.
I agree that the scene with the whales swimming in an ocean of blood could have been left on the cutting room floor.
“After seeing all his other films, I am convinced this one is my least favorite…”
Obviously you haven’t seen “I’m A Cyborg But That’s OK” then, Christopher.
Tons of CGI, no story.
Edit*
Posted twice by mistake.
“I don’t know how it could possibly be a vast improvement over Lady Vengeance. Thirst pales in comparison.”
Pun intended? Ha.
But I agree with Henry and Csenoner. Good film, not great. Comedy didn’t bother me. Thought it actually added to the film. Minor Chan Wook Park.
Also, this is nowhere near Twilight in terms of quality and thematics.
Ppl who compare vamp love movies to TWILIGHT are usually ppl who haven’t seen it. So don’t try to whip out the whole TWILIGHT card because if you are an active member of Auteurs, chances are, like me, you turned TWILIGHT off after the first 20 minutes.
I do find it quite ridiculous that every thread pertaining to a film with vampiric elements is instantly referenced to Twilight.
SO far, from what I’ve seen by Park (Oldboy, JSA) his best and most mature effort, even if it is a total mess. The film should have probably been at least an hour longer. But as it is, still one of the best films of the year, and a very challenging experience.
Wow.. this was barmy. Seriously disjointed and all over the place at least 3, probably more films rolled into one. And certainly about 20 minutes too long for it’s own good.
Wow.. this was barmy. Seriously disjointed and all over the place at least 3, probably more films rolled into one. And certainly about 20 minutes too long for it’s own good.I’m not really sure what to say about it. Not his normal fair for sure.
oops
double oops
you get the idea…
My review:
Can someone explain to me why a movie this goofy is being heralded as the best foreign film of the year?
Firstly, whoever they had working the sound effects for this movie should be given a bullet to the head. Every scene involving kissing, winking, eating, or biting sounded like a dog licking the bottom of his bowl.
As a matter of fact, the same should go to the visual effects team as well. CGI blood? CGI water, for god’s sake? Really? Is this 1999?
Besides the fact that THIRST looks and sounds terrible, the story doesn’t have much going for it either. A priest becomes a vampire (with the whole flying and skin burning up in the sun and all) through a medical experiment; a transformation that comes quite easy to him from the get-go, despite the fact that he is a priest.
But I’ll hand it to them in the set department; the sets and color schemes of some of the shots were beautiful, but we’re not making music videos, here. Also, the attempts at shocking the viewer fail miserably thanks to a completely unbelievable plot and a cast of wonky cartoon characters who, for the most part, seem to be either extremely bipolar or mentally retarded.
Park’s worst, which is saying a lot after I’M A CYBORG… Friends have asked me what this movie was about and what went on in it, but I really don’t know where to start. A lot of nothing happens, but when there is finally some action, it’s in the form of long-winded and unnecessary sex scenes. There are numerous efforts to shock the viewer with it’s (CGI) gore and (glamorized) sex scenes, but with characters this goofy, it’s hard to keep your eyes from rolling.
The opening 5 minutes of Park’s short CUT is a better vampire piece than this.
Tyler – I won’t respond to your whole post – although I’m not quite sure how this film is goofier than Parks other films – but one thing that you point out in your post that I vehemently disagree with is the issue of the sound effects. The raw animality/visceral nature of the sound effects are absolutely essential to the film.
You may be right — perhaps the sound effects were so grossly exaggerated as a means of showing what beats they were becoming, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to puke whenever someone made love or scarfed down on some CGI blood. Everything about this movie is done to excess that it was an absolute assault on my senses of the worst kind.
Nobody wanted to like this movie more than my girlfriend (who is Korean and understood the comedy aspects of the film better, but it still didn’t help her decision in hating it), but it was such a disappointment. As I said, if I could say anything nice about it, it would be the use of color and it’s camera work, but that’s become standard for Park films.
Double-posted… OOPS.
Just watched it. Hm – Fredo’s right. It is Twilight for adults. Oh, Chan-Wook. Impress me, damn you!
Christopher
http://www.theauteurs.com/films/2433
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762073/
After seeing all his other films, I am convinced this one is my least favorite. I do not think that it is a terrible movie, but I feel like it lost most of what is appealing to me about his film style. There were parts that were good, but as a whole, I don’t think it was very good.
First off, why the hell is there any CGI in this movie. Not only is it unnecessary, but it is negative and looks like shit. Near the end of the movie it pans out to CGI’d whales and ocean of blood.. what the fuck? Why? It seemed so cheesy at many parts.
There was too much comedy, one liners, cgi, thoughtlessness in this one.
I mean compared to the Vengeance Trilogy, its shit.
What do you guys think?