Heard about this, and as a full-blooded Korean, I'm obligated to watch anything with Korean stars in it. That it's Park Chan-Wook's film that stars Song Kang-Ho is the cherry on top.
Note: that still doesn't mean I'm watching GI Joe, Lee Byung-Hun's American debut (as Storm Shadow, fyi). Can't believe that dude went from a modern cinema classic in The Good, the Bad, and the Weird to GI "starring Dennis Quaid" Joe.
Much as I like his movies, I am getting Park Chan-Wook fatigue. Maybe it's because the Vengeance trilogy felt like rehashing of the same theme and tone instead of deeper exploration of a theme.
I wouldn't mind a return to something more like JSA, wherein the characters were actually relateable, instead of something like the Vengeance trilogy, that seemed like just pushing a character as far as they could go before they snap, and voyeuristically watching their descent. Thirst seems more like the latter, unfortunately (please tell me I'm wrong!). I get that people are fragile and corruptable, Mr. Park, I'm just not sure I want to devote another 2 hours to a movie it feels like I've watched two or three times before.
I read that the problem wasn't the running time as much as Chan-Wooks inability to stick to his genre, meaning he throws in whatever comes to mind, which doesn't always work.
@Illogic: No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he doesn't know when to end scenes. Genre-crossing is always a good thing, but this movie didn't really leave the vampire genre behind at any point. It was just a really weird and original take on the vampire genre.
@Annalee Newitz: this is where I look like a film snob, but your notion of not knowing when to end a scene puzzles me. With a filmmaker as pointed and nuanced as Chan-wook, the viewer has to ask himself what is Chan-wook trying to do with these lengthened sequences. Do they run long for either tone, character, or story? While Korean films are far more commercially oriented and Americanized than, say, Japanese cinema, and far more plot-driven than character, Chan-wook is far too good a craftsman to let things run long needlessly. As a reviewer, you have to figure out the "why's" and not just react subjectively to the film. You touch on that in the second-to-last paragraph, but then you sell your insight short with two words, "perhaps" and "artful." "Perhaps," because you're questioning your own judgement, and "artful" because it's as if you're questioning the filmmaker's intent and merits with respect to YOUR notions as what constitutes "art." Be it high brow, or low brow, all cinema is art as it reflects the filmmaker's desire to express an idea.
I haven't seen the film, but from your description, it sounds as if those extra, almost repetitive, scenes you mention regarding the subplot are present to provide contextual counterpoints to the main events. I'm curious, did the couple's guilt feel weightier or lifted with each subsequent scene?
@Allen_Richards: I'm certain he was trying to use these scenes to convey the intensity of his characters' emotions, but as a critic I didn't think they worked. Just because somebody uses an artistic device doesn't mean their work automatically becomes more artful.
But really my complaints about this film were extremely minor. I thought a lot of the drawn-out, weird scenes worked well to convey a sense of unease, and I made that quite clear in my review.
@Annalee Newitz: And this is where you keep loosing me. Please don't think I'm trying to bust your balls here, or criticize your writing - as someone who's been reviewing for almost 10 years I know how frustrating that can be (especially when I already know just how lousy I am and don't really need some jerk pointing it out) - that's not what I'm trying to do. You just keep touching upon something that I personally can't jive with, and it's most likely due to the filmmaker in me, so please just consider the source... It's these references to "artistic" merits. Film is art, period. Be it John Waters filming Divine eating doggy poo, Andy Warhol filmming a static shot of a building for 6 hours, or Chan-wook's "cinematic device" of repetitive action. Nothing can make a film "more artful," something either is, or isn't, art, but a filmmaker can use a variety of cinematic devices to convey his intent. I definitely understand what you're trying to say, and you're right, a reviewers job is to respond subjectively and convey that response, generally based on personal taste, to their readers...which you did wonderfully. This is really just me be hung up on cinematic symantics, like the big dork that I am... ;)
Annalee, please forgive me for interjecting something that has absolutely nothing in common with the subject of this thread except the fact that it's also about a movie.
Have you seen Big Man Japan? Can you write a review for it?
Here's an excerpt of Ebert's review:
Well, I guess this is the movie I’ve been asking for. Whenever I see a superhero epic, I’m always nagged by logical questions -- like, when the Incredible Hulk becomes enormous, how do his undershorts also expand? "Big Man Japan" answers that question with admirable clarity. Before the Big Man grows, workers winch an enormous pair of undershorts up on two poles, and he straddles the crotch. Then he expands to fill them. Had to be something like that.
@Roklimber:
Ebert's review from a few months ago is what turned me onto the film. You could see he wanted something like this from HANCOCK, but just didn't get it...
BMJ streeted this week and I caught it Tuesday. The first 30 minutes are so subtle that it's barely the comedy its billed as, but as it goes along it ventures off into some inspired everyday lunacy. It's like a mumblecore Kaiju...
@Annalee Newitz:
Came out last week on DVD. It is quite amusing, but I wonder if a lot of the Japanese in-jokes will soar over people's heads.
The ending is amazing.
@Plague: No, it's not amazing, it's F*CKING AMAZING!!! ;) A brilliant bit of meta-cinema that completely had me guessing as to the validity of the 100 minutes prior. Was it all just the delusion of a kid's show Kaiju? Wishful fantasy? Or was the ending itself a JACOB'S LADDER-like final dream? Who knows, who cares - it was just the pitch perfect note of crazy to end on...
Does the country still harbor that much anti-American sentiment, or was that ending just the filmmaker's way paying thematic homage to the king of Kaiju, Gojira?? BMJ is a pretty scathing indictment of Japanese pop-culture and sheep-like mentality w/ regard to fads, not to mention the younger society's pack-like tendencies towards the weak (ie. bullying). Are American's supposed to be the Kaiju Bully Kings???
Didn't you just love Big Man's reaction to everything taking place?
Hey, why no spoiler alert? I can't really say much more than that, because as soon as I got a sense I'd be learning plot, I had to avert my eyes. Oh, naughty, naughty spoilers!
@Boas_MC: Well, the post is labeled "Movie Review". I don't honestly know why you needed more warning than that. What do you expect, some sort of giant Drudge Report siren to alert you?
@Boas_MC: I added a spoiler alert, but really it's a movie review so some aspects of the plot are going to be in it. I didn't spoil any of the major reveals.
@Annalee Newitz: I'll give you that, and I'll throw in a case of Tru Blood. I had conveniently ignored the nice "Movie Review" label right smack above the title. This may be a sign of visual processing deficiencies, and so a nice, ear-piercing siren could indeed do the trick (though please, nothing Drudge-related). Now I'll go off and tuck my head in shame...
08/01/09
08/01/09
08/30/09
08/01/09
07/31/09
Note: that still doesn't mean I'm watching GI Joe, Lee Byung-Hun's American debut (as Storm Shadow, fyi). Can't believe that dude went from a modern cinema classic in The Good, the Bad, and the Weird to GI "starring Dennis Quaid" Joe.
08/01/09
08/03/09
...then again, Depp's acting debut was in Nightmare to Elm Street, so I suppose there's still time.
07/31/09
I wouldn't mind a return to something more like JSA, wherein the characters were actually relateable, instead of something like the Vengeance trilogy, that seemed like just pushing a character as far as they could go before they snap, and voyeuristically watching their descent. Thirst seems more like the latter, unfortunately (please tell me I'm wrong!). I get that people are fragile and corruptable, Mr. Park, I'm just not sure I want to devote another 2 hours to a movie it feels like I've watched two or three times before.
07/31/09
07/31/09
08/01/09
I haven't seen the film, but from your description, it sounds as if those extra, almost repetitive, scenes you mention regarding the subplot are present to provide contextual counterpoints to the main events. I'm curious, did the couple's guilt feel weightier or lifted with each subsequent scene?
08/01/09
But really my complaints about this film were extremely minor. I thought a lot of the drawn-out, weird scenes worked well to convey a sense of unease, and I made that quite clear in my review.
08/01/09
07/31/09
Have you seen Big Man Japan? Can you write a review for it?
Here's an excerpt of Ebert's review:
Well, I guess this is the movie I’ve been asking for. Whenever I see a superhero epic, I’m always nagged by logical questions -- like, when the Incredible Hulk becomes enormous, how do his undershorts also expand? "Big Man Japan" answers that question with admirable clarity. Before the Big Man grows, workers winch an enormous pair of undershorts up on two poles, and he straddles the crotch. Then he expands to fill them. Had to be something like that.
07/31/09
08/01/09
Ebert's review from a few months ago is what turned me onto the film. You could see he wanted something like this from HANCOCK, but just didn't get it...
BMJ streeted this week and I caught it Tuesday. The first 30 minutes are so subtle that it's barely the comedy its billed as, but as it goes along it ventures off into some inspired everyday lunacy. It's like a mumblecore Kaiju...
08/01/09
Came out last week on DVD. It is quite amusing, but I wonder if a lot of the Japanese in-jokes will soar over people's heads.
The ending is amazing.
08/01/09
Does the country still harbor that much anti-American sentiment, or was that ending just the filmmaker's way paying thematic homage to the king of Kaiju, Gojira?? BMJ is a pretty scathing indictment of Japanese pop-culture and sheep-like mentality w/ regard to fads, not to mention the younger society's pack-like tendencies towards the weak (ie. bullying). Are American's supposed to be the Kaiju Bully Kings???
Didn't you just love Big Man's reaction to everything taking place?
07/31/09
07/31/09
07/31/09
08/01/09
07/17/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
06/19/09
Not promising.
06/19/09