Movie review: Midnight movie at Uptown: 'Thirst'

Focus Features, Star Tribune

"Thirst"

By Colin Covert, Star Tribune

Last update: November 5, 2009 - 5:09 PM

Korean director Chan-wook Park has won raves from film lovers for his inventively plotted, darkly moral thrillers. 2003's "Oldboy," which showed in an epic tracking shot how much damage a brawler with a claw hammer can inflict on a hallway full of goons, won the top prize at Cannes. His latest, "Thirst," took the festival's top honors again.

The film's antihero (played by top Korean star Song Kang-ho of "The Host") is a selfless priest caught in a typically Park-ian extremity. He volunteers for a medical experiment that goes wrong, transforming him into a vampire with an unquenchable lust for blood -- and for his neighbor's devilish wife. Haven't seen it, and can't wait to, though some festival reports call the 133-minute film overlong. It's in Korean (subtitled) and rated R for "graphic bloody violence, disturbing images, strong sexual content, nudity and language" -- the whole shebang.

(Midnight today-Sat., Uptown Theatre, 2906 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. $7-$9. 612-825-6006.)

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