Reviewed by Angelena R. Schapiro





In an interview with A.V. Club Chan Wook Park spoke on his movie "Thirst", which I wrote about earlier in the blog. He had some interesting things to say regarding the violence in his movies and also how the idea of "Thirst" came to be. I found it interesting for one that he didn't use the normal vampire attributes that we are used to seeing such as capes, fangs, or bats. He even mentioned, "I didn't really set out to research vampire lore and I didn't really go out of my way to look at all the different material". He went on to say, " I haven't had a chance yet to see "Twilight" or any of the more recent vampire films".

It's interesting to see that he almost went the opposite directon of many vampire films by making the vampire a priest. When asked what came first when creating this movie he said it was the fact that he wanted to somehow use a catholic priest. He also wanted to address the issue of the devil and the existence of evil. He did this in a round about way in the movie in that he never reveals where the priest gets the vampire blood. Chan Wook Park said in repsonse to this,"So it may be the doings of the Devil, or it could be an act of God that scientist cannot imagine, or that we can never find out about. But even if it was blood of the devil or even if it was the devil's doing, we never find out". He then said something interesting about his making the vampire a priest, "I wanted the starting point to be this very noble and very holy person. But in saying that, this person can't be a perfect person either". "For this person to be faced with a situation like this, to be forced into a situation like this, this would mean he wold begin to doubt his faith and doubt God even more hat the average person would". Prior to these comments he states that he feels sin is "inevitabe". He was hoping to show that as well through this movie.

Lastly he comments on the violence in his films. He admits that his films can be violent but that he feels it is exaggerated. He says, " My films are not as explicit as you might think. There is a misconception that people somehow seem to claim that they have seen the image where the main character cuts off his own tongue in "Old Boy". Or they seem to remember seeing children go through the process of being killed on-screen in "Lady Vengeance. Or they would say that they have seen the main character take the tooth out of one of the bad buys in "Old Boy". But that is not true. They're actually not seen on screen. These are referred to, anticipated, and talked about, but not actually portrayed in this film, because they are still there". He goes on to say that he feels these things are needed in the movies he's made becuase of the message he is trying to send. He desires to address the "violent relationship between individuals and this sense of wrongdoing, or this sense that this is a sin, and the process of redemption related to that. It's kind of like saying in a romance film its unavoidable to film a kissing scene".


Here's the link :)
http://www.avclub.com/articles/park-chanwook,31394/