One of the most anticipated Foreign films of the year — and the rare one that unites geeks and film snobs (anything with darkness precipitates erections arouses nerds) — South Korean director Park Chan-Wook’s “Thirst” is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival next week.
Chan-Woork is known for his immensely engrossing revenge trilogy (“Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” “Oldboy,” “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance”; nerds love revenge, plain drama without blood or a baseball too? Mmm, not so much, sorry awesome revenge film, “Revanche”). Chan-Wook’s not-as-beloved 2006 film, “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” didn’t even really come out in the U.S. properly, but cinephiles and basement-dwelling dweebs alike will be happy to know that — according to an email we just received from the publicist — “Thirst” is set for a “Mid-July” release via Focus Features. Not a specific date, obviously, but better than nothing, right?
What’s the film about? Well, it’s essentially a horror/drama about a priest (venerable S. Korean actor and PC-W mainstay Song Kang-ho) who turns into a vampire through a failed medical experiment and then falls in love with his friend’s wife.
Let’s consult the full-blown synopsis that just came out today.
Sang-hyun is a beloved and admired priest in a small town, who devotedly serves at a local hospital. He goes to Africa to volunteer as a test subject in an experiment to find a vaccine to the new deadly infectious disease caused by Emmanuel Virus (E.V.). During the experiment, he is infected by the E.V. and dies. But transfusion of some unidentified blood miraculously brings him back to life, and unbeknownst to him, it has also turned him into a vampire. After his return home, news of Sang-hyun’s recovery from E.V. spreads and people start believing he has the gift of healing and flock to receive his prayers. From those who come to him, Sang-hyun meets a childhood friend named Kang-woo and his wife Tae-ju. Sang-hyun is immediately drawn to Tae-ju. Tae-ju gets attracted to Sang-hyun, who now realizes he has turned into a vampire, and they begin a secret love affair. Sang-hyun asks Tae-ju to run away with him but she turns him down. Instead, she tries to involve Sang-hyun in a plot to kill Kang-woo…
Apparently Chan-Wook conceived and then developed the story over several years with screenwriter Jung Seo-kyung. Here’s the international teaser trailer from a few months back. We think many will be relieved to hear this one is getting a proper North American release.