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Thirst

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Interview with Director Park Chan-Wook

Story : Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) is a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But the virus takes the priest, and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun lives – but now exists as a vampire. Struggling with his newfound carnal desire for blood, Sang-hyun’s faith is further strained when a childhood friend’s wife, Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin) comes to him asking for his help in escaping her life. Sang-hyun soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.

Q: What inspired you to create this film?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): Perhaps because of my background in growing up. Being I grew up in a Catholic family so I was interested in telling a story about a Catholic priest and when would be those moments when a Catholic priest might doubt his own faith or if he was ever tempted to commit a sin, what would he do to overcome that temptation? I wanted to do a film in dealing with those sorts of things but then I thought; what if he became a vampire? At the same time, I was thinking of vampire films and priests’ roles in those films and it’s always the same in that they are the vampire hunters or they try to kill vampires but they never themselves become vampires so I thought it would be a very interesting story to tell in that sense.
 
Q: Why did you decide to base it on the Zola novel Therese Raquin?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): When I was thinking about this film ten years ago, I only had two sequences in mind. The first was when Priest Sang-hyeon became a vampire, how the man becomes a vampire, and how the woman, Tae-joo, became a vampire. These were the only two sequences in my mind but I didn’t have where this woman came from, what was the relationship with the main character, and all these things were left blank. I left it blank for a number of years. Then I came across the book THERESE RAQUIN by Emile Zola and I was immediately drawn to it. I wanted to adapt the novel into a film. In my mind, they were two separate projects. One day I thought “What if I could fuse these two films together?” Thinking of that, I found that all the blanks that were still left in my vampire film were filled in by details from the novel.

 Q: Was there a particular reaction from the Catholic community when the film came out?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): There were people around me who were worried that when the film came out, it would cause some stir within the Korean Catholic community. Having being a Catholic myself, I had belief in the Korean Catholic Church in that it formed against military dictatorship in Korea so historically it had a big role in fighting for democracy in Korea. In the process, it’s grown to be more of a liberal group of people. I had this belief that they would not create an issue out of the film rather they would be broad minded enough to say that it’s only a movie and laugh it off. That’s exactly what happened. On the contrary however, there were Catholic priests and nuns that advised the production and made sure the details that the main character does as a priest was correct. The Catholic advisor would teach the main character how to conduct an anointment for the sick and so on and so on. They were all given copies of the script to read and they all thought the same, it was only a movie.
 
This may be important to note as well. In OLDBOY for instance, the sex scene with the main character and his daughter, my producer was worried that the ratings board might find it too graphic and would give it a restricted rating that would limit the release of the film. He asked them if we could take the sequence away but the board gave it an R rating and we were able to release it. It wasn’t a more restrictive rating. That was becaue the ratings board were able to see the context in that these two people didn’t realize that they were father and daughter and if you’re able to see the context you can say that this is not out to portray an incest in the same way the main character in THIRST did not desire or intend to become a vampire.

He was put upon this condition of being a vampire. Despite the fact that he didn’t want to be a vampire, he still feels responsible for what he is. He feels a sense of guilt about the things he does even though these are the things a vampire would naturally do. In feeling this sense of guilt and an attempt to take responsibility makes him feel more noble and it turns him into somewhat of a hero character which the Catholic community could see.

Q: This film is extremely graphic sexually. Was it intentional to shock the audience with these explicit scenes?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): This is a very important part of the film because this is the moment where the priest steps over the line that could not be crossed. It’s the moment where he makes the moral downfall. Also, for the woman, it is a moment of liberation. For her, she feels liberated from this marriage which to her felt like hell and felt like a prison. For these two characters, this is such an important moment that I couldn’t just say “And so they had sex.” I just couldn’t do that. Every facial expression, every position, every noise they make was very important and you needed to see this details to see how important this moment was for both of them.
 
Q: In addition to that, you work with very popular actors such as your star, Song Kang-ho, and in making him appear on screen doing these things, what was his reaction to doing these?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): Song Kango-ho is the kind of actor that didn’t have any hesitation for these scenes because he’s the kind of the actor where if there’s something that has to be done for the film, he finds it shameful for an actor to say no or shy away from what is required for the film.
 
Q: Was it the same for the woman, Kim OK-vin?

(PARK CHAN-WOOK): As a Korean woman, she was more shy in the fact that there were these scenes, but in this instance, she had an expectation of what level of extreme would be involved in making this film. This was something I spoke with her from the outset. I’m the kind of director who storyboards everything in my movies and of course that included the sex scene as well. I showed her the storyboard and she knew exactly what was involved in these scenes. That was a choice from the onset. She knew about everything with respect to the sex scenes and if she wanted to do it, you can do it. If not, then you have to leave it. There was not a lot of convincing involved. It was a simple choice of whether or not she took it as a whole package.
 
Q: What would people consider a worse violation for a Catholic; being a vampire or knowing a priest is having sex?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): After he gets the blood transfusion, the main character becomes extremely sensitive in eye sight and his hearing, and also he becomes very strong. Another change that takes place in him is that he becomes less able to control his urges. For this character, for him to desire blood or lust after a woman, it’s all out of the same reason; he’s lost an ability to control his urges. If you look at it that way, it doesn’t make one violation more valid than the other.
 
Q: Do you think these horror films that you have made are a statement against the Korean dictatorship in feeling that freedom to push the envelope?

(PARK CHAN-WOOK): I would have to say yes in that being in a military dictatorship, having the freedom, it does give confidence for filmmakers to express themselves in this strong and extreme way. For a long time, freedom of expression had been suppressed so after the freedom has been achieved, there is a desire and joy to be able to tell a story in the form that we want do. This has nothing to do with scenes with violence or sex. If you look at my film J.S.A. at the time, I was able to work with the biggest star in Korea and say the lines “Glory to the people’s republic of a democratic Korea. Glory to Kim Jong Il.” Even this character in the film, he’s pretending that he’s saying this things. He’s trying to get out of a situation in a story.

Even then, you don’t have to think about the context, but I also don’t admire the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il. It’s not the reason why I have the dialogue in the film but whatever the context these words can come out of a major film actor in a commercial film changed our climate in Korean arts so I felt a sense of catharsis when I was able to do this. In Korea, after many years under military dictatorship, Korean people have developed a tendency to have huge fluctuations in their emotions and this may be part of the reasons why these films appear to be so extreme.
 
Q: The metaphor of vampires in America is seen more as a nocturnal existence in that it is embraced by a Gothic lifestyle. This film deals with a moral downfall of a vampire and has a different take on it. Would you comment on your opinion of the American take on vampirism in movies?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): When it comes to Tae-joo’s character, you can say that metaphor of a nocturnal release is true to her. Becoming a vampire to her is not a curse. She rather accepts this new identity as a vampire and she seems to even enjoy it. Of course, it doesn’t seem that she particularly prefers to be out there during the night. However, based on the fact that she paints the interior of her apartment white and takes video clips of daytime scenery and plays it back so she can recreate being in the same time, but she revels in the fact that she doesn’t have to control her desires and instincts. To be able to go around doing all these things, she seems to enjoy the sense of release and the sense of liberation which is in stark contrast to the character of the priest, who finds himself in a serious moral dilemma that he’s based with and he’s suffered.

Q: Focus Features co-produced this film, was there any pressure to make this film more viable to American audiences and make it more like a Hollywood film?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): I didn’t feel that the subject matter of this film lended itself to become a Hollywood film with an English speaking cast. This is because one of themes dealt in the film are things from the outside penetrating into the inside. This is portrayed by the fact that vampirism and Catholicism, which are both very much a part of the Western culture, makes its way into Korea and it’s interesting to see how these Korean characters react to this whether they reject it or accept it.

In a broader sense as well, when you have a virus infiltrating into the body, this is also element that is an exterior going into the interior. When you look at the priest entering himself into this family, it’s the same theme as well. To do it in America with an American cast, I just didn’t think it was in my best interest to do it that way. If the film would be remade if you were to think about it and still deal with the same theme of the exterior going into the interior. For me, it was more natural to do it this way, making it as a Korean film.
 
 
Q: What are your feelings towards the Hollywood remake of "OLDBOY"?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): All I can say on that is that I can’t wait to see the film. I am looking forward to seeing how it’d be different from my own film. If you can imagine, even if it’s the same film, if you cast a different set of actors, it would just give a different feel to the film. It’s going to be an American film with American actors and it would no doubt be much different from my film and I am interested to see what changes are made. It’s also interesting to see if the story, which originated in Japan, has come through Korea and turned into a film, and now going to America, what would become of it. Seeing it step by step, it would be interesting to see what changes were made step by step. It would be an interesting exercise in the evolution of a story.

Some people have come up to me in the past asking if I am worried about Americans remaking the film and ruining my original film but I don’t actually look at it that way at all. If it was exactly the same as my film, I would find it boring. I am expecting and would like it to be completely different from my film.
 
Q: What’s Next for you?
 
(PARK CHAN-WOOK): Some projects that are in very early stages so I haven’t gotten much to tell you.