Thirst (2 Stars)

This is a Korean film. I don't like Korean films. That must come as a shock to my regular readers who know me as an open-minded film fan who will watch anything. In my defence, I watched "Thirst" today. So why don't I like Korean films? Am I being racist? Let me try to explain.

Most of the films I watch are American films. That's probably true for most of my readers. But I also watch a lot of foreign films, such as German, Japanese and Chinese. I've watched enough of these to recognise a general national style. It's not easy to put into words, it's often just a feeling, but when someone tells me something like "X is a German film" I know roughly what to expect. German films are thoughtful and educational. Chinese films have lots of vibrant colours, whether they're action or romance films. Japanese films have darker colours and move slower than Chinese films. Norwegian and Swedish films rely on the atmosphere for effect rather than character development. English films have some sort of social relevance, they relate to life in England. I'm not saying that these differences are fixed. "The Bible Code" is German, but it has a very American style. "The Eye" is Chinese, but it has a Japanese style. I've watched a lot of French and Spanish films, but I haven't been able to see a pattern. I've watched a few Korean films, and there's something about them I don't like. They have a rough edge. I can't quite describe it, but this film has it too.

If I knew I didn't like Korean films, why did I buy this one? I had read very good reviews about the film, but the main reason was that it was a vampire film. My fascination with vampire films borders on obsession. Unfortunately, I found out today that it isn't what I would call a real vampire film, and I was disappointed.

Sang-hyun is a Catholic priest. He travels to Africa to take part in an experiment to find a cure for the Emmanuel Virus. The experiment fails, all 500 participants in the experiment contact the virus and die. But Sang-hyun comes back to life. The reason is that he had been given a blood transfusion with blood taken from a vampire. He returns to Korea and he's greeted as a miracle worker. Sick people beg him to lay his hands on them. He claims to have no healing powers, but miraculous cures occur and his fame spreads. At the same time he finds that he can only stay alive by drinking blood. Since he is still a man of God he avoids killing anyone by siphoning blood from comatose hospital patients.

Sang-hyun begins an affair with Tae-ju, a childhood friend who is now married. She drinks his blood and becomes a vampire. Together they kill her husband, but he returns to haunt them as a ghost. Tae-ju goes on a vicious killing spree which disgusts Sang-hyun.

I've described the plot at such length to give you an idea of how bizarre the film is. If it had been made in Japan it would have had a different "feeling" to it. As it is, it did nothing to change my prejudices towards Korean films. My guest writer Kaylena has already expressed her liking for Korean films. Maybe she can give it a more positive review.

Click here to view the trailer.