What is it with Park Chan-wook that makes him so talented?

The guy clearly understands how to write and frame broken characters in a sympathetic way. It’s a delicate balance to be honest. If my appreciation of his movies are any indication, I should be thirsting for movies with broken characters as leads but... I’m not. In fact, I prefer flawed but ultimately good characters in general, not genuinely broken ones. But he just forces it on you, continuously, then makes it work so well it’s baffling to me. And heart-breaking.

He did it with Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Oldboy, and he did it again with what I consider his masterpiece, Thirst, a sort of Psychological/Horror/Romantic thriller. A movie about damn vampires of all things! I usually don’t like vampires, or vampire movies. Well, except this one. To say it’s merely a vampire movie would be doing it quite the disservice though. Also, The Handmaiden remains his most erotic movie overall but this is definitely the runner-up on that front.

It’s a movie about abuse, physical and psychological. Return to the primal. And about religion, and faith, and giving back. But strangely enough, there is a melancholic and coming of age aspect to it too—vampire stories often are coming of age stories in one way or another as it can be compared to another form of puberty. And lastly, and most importantly, it’s a movie about power, which drives most of the central relationships.

Song Kang-ho… not much left to say about him. Most people who are remotely familiar with Korean cinema know he’s a legend, and so I have to sing his praises again here. He makes the movie work on a number of levels because of his nuanced performance, what an amazing actor.

But the revelation here absolutely has to be Kim Ok-bin who promptly runs away with the movie. Outright theft in plain sight!

I can already imagine casting agents watching this movie back then going like holy fuck, the range on this one. Stoic, vulnerable, badass, romantic, resolute, in despair, faking all of the above... name it. I was already familiar with her because of The Villainess, and while that was great, this is on another level. The sheer intensity in her gaze at times reminded me of Brigitte Lin, who’s had a much, much more prolific career.

It’s somewhat quite deliberately paced, which may or may not be your cup of tea overall. Watching the beginning after the ending, it does feel odd. This movie is truly a journey of some sort.

And I love it.

Onward to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I don’t think one can watch them more outrageously out of order than I did, but whaddaya know...