Director: Park Chan-wook
Year: 2009
Country: South Korea/USA
Alternate Titles: Bakjwi
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Working in a hospital, a priest volunteers for a special research project looking at the effects of a strange virus but is able to overcome the effects with a blood transfusion that soon turns him into a ravenous vampire, drawing the attention of a troubled woman from his past to the lifestyle.
Review:
There was quite a lot to like with the film. Among it's best qualities is the highly original and unique bent this provides to a vampire's origins which is quite creative by offering the transformation through the experiment. The additional measure of being a priest and being placed through the experiment takes on a truly enjoyable religious aspect here realizing that the consequences have turned him into such a creature. When we see the outcome of this as a form of worship due to the nature of his situation surviving as he does, there's a far greater understanding of what happened to him in order to become such a creature and the conflict that arises within him knowing what he is becomes all the more interesting. The desire to help people, especially working in a hospital for the dead and dying, begins to conflict greatly with the urge towards blood-drinking that he encounters due to being around others in that condition.
When he decides to drop those pretenses and allows his true nature to come out, which is when he starts to have the affair with the wife, the pace becomes a lot more enjoyable with the action picking up. Since the virus has still not completely healed and causes him to revert to his deformed state, these scenes of him failing to keep everything from her and causing the seduction of the lifestyle. These scenes of him demonstrating his powers, such as the healing of his skin side-effects, his strength and agility, visibly aroused her due to how exciting and different he is compared to her current living situation. That contrast is exceptionally well-recognized once the seduction is complete and she turns into a ravenous vampire. These become rather fun with the traditional manner in which these activities are focused on within here and keep the film moving along with a lot more going on than usually suspected.
That becomes far more impactful once you see the contrast between them in the later half. With him far more concerned with keeping a low profile for his activities and her interested in the power she has, this section creates an interesting dichotomy between them. With the film's best sequence overall as she snaps and goes on a massive killing spree against their friends and featuring plenty of bloody, brutal action in the bloodletting and eventual blood-drinking that occurs in the aftermath, it comes across as the most horror-based element at that point and scores really well. Their relationship together at that point reaches a breaking point and exemplified beautifully in a poignant, touching finale that is exceptionally moving as the two vampires meet their fate together. These elements are what really hold this one up.
For all it's positives, there are a few flaws here. The main issue is the overall excessive length to this one, running on far too long for its own good. The film creates a wholly lethargic pace that runs quite a while before we realize what's going on since this becomes far more concerned with the visual aesthetic than getting the storytelling spell itself out. We have a bland setup throughout the first half with a detailed step-by-step breakdown of his journey at the institute getting the disease and his eventual recovery there. That leads to those around him being drawn into a saint-like worshipping cult begging for him to perform miracles on them or their loved ones would've been a fine angle to play up more instead of staying in focus on the drama between him and the family. Overall, these here are what holds this one back somewhat.
Overview: ****/5
Despite a few minor hiccups in place, this one comes through wonderfully with a strong creative aspect and some fine emotional resonance to make for a captivating entry. Wholly dive into this effort if you're a vampire genre fan or someone interested based on the creative units involved, while those put off by its negatives are missing out on the positive aspects.
This review was originally written for Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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