Weekly Spotlight: Park Chan-wook’s Thirst

Who’s in the mood for a Korean film about vampires?

*Possible spoilers—read at your own risk.*

Thirst is a stunning mix of Meyer’s Twilight vampire series and Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Park Chan-wook weaves a tragically beautiful and psychological tale between two lovers, Father Hyun (a catholic priest) and Tae-ju (Hyun’s childhood friend’s wife). In the beginning, Father Hyun accidentally turns into a vampire through a tainted blood transfusion. Because of the tainted transfusion, Hyun develops forbidden sexual desires (this can be debated), and starts an affair with Tae-ju.

Throughout her whole life, Tae-ju has been trapped in a domestic space, dominated by her husband, Kang Woo, and her adoptive “mother” until Father Hyun (literally) steps into her life. The violent passion in the relationship between Tae-ju and Father Hyun matches with that of Heathcliff and Cathy in Wuthering Heights, where despite how both couples are forbidden to be together, their love still connects them to a sublime, spiritual level of unrestrained passion.

Their relationship begins and ends in a very tender, almost pure (but not quite) manner; this is shown in the scene where Tae-ju runs her calloused feet on the streets, and Father Hyun literally picks her up and gently plants her into his shoes. (I won’t give away the end, but it does have something to do with her/their feet!) However, as much as I love the relationship dynamic between Father Hyun and Tae-ju, I find Tae-ju’s complex and restrictive relationship with her “mother” much more fascinating. Check out the film here.

~Jennifer Wu