Thist (Bakjwi)

Release Year: 2009
Review: Korea's answer to 'Twilight' and 'Let the Right One In', film maker Park Chan-wook, who is the brilliant mind behind the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance), brings us this compelling vampire romance thriller. A priest, Sang-hyun(Song Kang-ho), who is toiling with the cruelty of life, volunteers for a vaccine for a deadly virus. When the test goes tragically wrong, Sang-hyun miraculously survives only to find he has turned into a vampire. Struggling to deal with his new affliction and control his new violent urges he gets romantically involved with an unusual young woman.

Park Chan-wook has a distinctive style that fits this genre very well. The cinematography is superb, creating a wonderful contrast between light and dark. The film is gory, but it doesn't revel in it. The graphic scenes create a feeling of authenticity to such an absurd premise and heightens the sense of severity of the actions of the characters, never glazing over the terrible acts that are committed. The film isn't without flaws. Running a bit too long, it seems to scuffle in the middle, repeating the same material and holding back the plot from progressing. Despite this, the good far out weighs the bad. The multiple layers of emotion which Sang-hyun is is tortured with is enthralling.

Using the vehicle of a vampire flick, Chan-wook examines the conflicts of religion, love, lust and controlling primal urges. The acting was fantastic and I was blown away by Kim Ok-vin, who plays the love interest in the movie. She fearlessly takes on a conflicted character and manages to make someone who could have come off as annoying as someone who interesting and compelling. Saving things from getting to bogged down in tension and cruelty is the dark humor. Never taking itself too seriously, Chan-wook always jumps at a chance to throw in a laugh without derailing the story. It's not the best of the vampire genre, but this visceral thriller certainly makes an impact and is thoroughly enjoyable in its profane, yet sincere, take on the vampire movie.
Rating: 4/5