Oddly Disappointing: THIRST Official Cannes Review

Status: In Competition I initially missed the press screenings of this, so set off earlier today to catch the Day After Screening at the Salle Soixantieme, on the recommendation of Michael Edwards and Matt. I confess that my knowledge of Chan Wook Park's canon of work extends little further than Old Boy, which I was blown away by, though I am of course aware of the Vengeance trilogy and have set aside three spaces on my never-ending list of films I must see. So I wasnt sure what to expect- especially given that any cursory glance over already existing reviews suggests a veritable smorgasbord of opinion. What I found was a movie heavy on style (as expected), but somewhat lacking in narrative discipline. The camerawork is sublime, and the design of the film (another success notch for Ryo Seong Hee along with Hansel & Gretel and The Host) well on par with the look of Old Boy- hence the various critical cries that this is a return to form for Park. But as with Spring Fever a few days ago, the aesthetic merit of a film cannot always hide the cracks, and it pains me to report that Thirst has a few. Firstly the characters are immensely difficult to empathise with because of the hyper-real way in which they are painted- every one is just too odd, and what the plot has them do at turns launches firmly into the realm of the downright ridiculous. The truth of the matter is that Park's artistic achievements deserve better subject material than this (an allegation I've heard also aimed at I'm A Cyborg But That's Okay and the dearth between the story and how Park portrays it is infinite in passages. Besides the plot issues, there was something else troubling me as I watched- the shocks and the gore all feel far too self-conscious to be really affecting: the set-ups are obvious and the gore feels somewhat obligatory, in stark contrast to the still profoundly provocative Old Boy. With anything purporting to be a thrill-ride of a film (which the creepy trailer promised) I assume that the machinations of horror should be invisible as a pre-requisite, and the gore to be an integral part of the narrative (otherwise you move into that heinous sub-genre of Gore Porn). Thirst let me down in both regards- but I freely admit I went into the screening with sky-high expectations, having recently rewatched Old Boy when I heard Thirst was playing here. On further reflection my opinion of the way the movie presents its shock s is that they are too fragmented from the rest of the film- I half expect Park to go full throttle to shock me (something even my relatively untrained eye picked out of his work) but Thirst spends too much time bouncing from dullness to silliness to really provoke that kind of reaction in me. In terms of the vampire genre, Thirst is an odd bed-fellow for 90% of it's siblings: rather than the full-blooded terror action of other generic examples, Thirst feels rather ponderous, and plods along getting more and more stylized as the first 90 minutes creep by. The mid-section then becomes ludicrous, and leaves a few notable and inexplicable plot-holes. By the time the adrenaline was injected, and the film hit its crescendo, I was almost past interested. Perhaps it is a little unfair to evaluate Thirst in terms of the vampire genre- it is something different which merely explores ideas of vampirism (hence the lack of the obvious Vampire Code of Conduct. After all who would expect Park to rely upon the conventions of a genre that was largely viewed as having been done to death before Let The Right One In started turning heads this year again; indeed there are more recognisably Parkian features than there are vampire genre ones, which should please the die-hard fans, but I was still left wanting a little more substance. It was always going to be difficult introducing a vampire film into the still relatively fresh wake created by Let The Right One In- even one with as individual a voice as Parks- and it is testament to that film's success that Thirst is being so scrutinised in its initial reviews. My final word: aesthetically beautiful, but a little too difficult to fully get on board with.