An Overview of the Movie “Thirst”

An Overview of the Movie “Thirst” by: Angie Schapiro

Cinema students, this beautifully crafted film by Chan-Wook Park, “Thirst “, is a far stretch from the American Twilight Saga. True to his nature, Chan-Wook Park shows a more gory and thrilling side to the life of a vampire. “Thirst” tells the story of a Catholic Priest, Sang- Hyun. Father Hyun, who in the beginning of the movie primarily pays hospital visits and takes care of confessionals , decides that he wants something more for his life, to help the ill. At this time there is an epidemic hitting many individuals he has met in his hospital visits and because it grieved his soul so much to see them suffering he decided to leave the monastery to aid the doctors working on the case through experiments. In doing so, the priest catches the epidemic called, “the curse of Bazira”. With the epidemic come blisters and lesions on the outside of the victim’s body and eventually make their way into the inner organs causing the individual to cough up blood. When the disease reaches this point for Father Hyun a blood transfusion is needed to restore the massive amount of blood lost. It is then that is problems truly begin.

The priest, after nearly dying during, survives the blood transfusion, the first of 500 people. He becomes known as “The Bandaged Saint”, a medical marvel, to whom all the cripples and sick in town turn to for healing for themselves or family members. What these individuals don’t know is that he’s found he must wear bandages during the day because the sun brings back his blisters but away from the sun he is free of the blisters. He also finds that with the ingestion of human blood he is also able to be free from his blister which in turn renders him a vampire. The film reveals that the blood given him in the blood transfusion was in fact vampire blood, and since the time of the transfusion, he has become one himself. Now Father Hyun is stuck between the life of a priest and the life of a vampire. Is he a saint or a killer? As the story unfolds Sang-Hyun must make a choice.

Throughout the movie Chan-Wook Park cleverly uses Christian parallels to deepen the plot of the movie. I encourage cinema students to think of the Garden of Eden and the roles of both Adam and Eve. The main character and his lover play out these same roles. Without him, she couldn’t have become what she did. Without her, he wouldn’t have gone against his values. Without the sins committed together, they may not have been condemned at the end of the film (as Adam and Eve were when kicked out of the garden). Chan-Wook Park’s use of this particular parallel is genius as “Father Hyun” has known the values of Christianity all of this life as a Catholic priest. It’s the fight, such as this, between religion and lusts of life that come together to make this film the masterpiece it truly is.