Must-watch: Thirst

There are definitely a lot of vampire movies around but I'm not exactly drawn to them all the time. I haven't seen Twilight. I liked Interview with a Vampire, but I was too young then when it was shown, I only remember Kirsten Dunst and her curls. The last vampire movie that really impressed me is Let the Right One In, which, unfortunately, I failed to write about in this blog.

I'm not going to pass again on reviewing a good vampire movie, that's why I'm telling you about Thirst (2009). The movie's directed by the very famous Korean director, Chan-wok Park, and won the Jury Prize in last year's Canne's film festival. I suppose because of that win, among other accolades, the film has been getting some good press and that's how I got intrigued by it.

Thirst tells the story of a vampire priest. If that's not intriguing enough, I don't know what else is. Add to that, he got involved in a passionate love affair with a married woman. Totally irreverent, is it not?

I love the moral dilemma of the priest, and the writers and director played it quite well during the first half of the movie, which I should say is the good half. Only, things got way too wacky in the second half, I was pretty much shaking my head on that part.

Despite ending with such a low note, I truly admire the camera-work and cinematography in this film. Also, the acting by the two leads, Kang-ho Song and Ok-bin Kim, especially on how they dealt with the transformation of their characters, keeps the movie engaging.

BTW, a Filipina actress, Mercedes Cabral (Kinatay, Serbis) has a small role in the film. But don't worry, at least she lived, unlike most of the other characters.

Check the trailer below.