Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Movie - 2002)

Korean Movie Thirst to be Screened in Washington Metro Area

Source | 2009/08/07 | 0 comments | Permalink |

A Korean thriller titled "Thirst" by director Park Chan-wook, will be screened at the landmark E-Street cinema in Washington D.C., starting Aug. 14. It was already released to some theatres in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on July 31.

Park Chan-wook is the award winning, critically acclaimed director of what is now dubbed the "Vengeance Trilogy" of "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", "Old boy" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance". This South Korean director and screenwriter first developed a cult following in America after the first movie in his trilogy was dubbed by Quentin Tarantino and Harry Knowles as the "Best movie of 2002". His second addition, "Old Boy" was an even greater success and seen by a much wider audience. Park is best noted for his exploration of morally complex issues rife with eye-popping violence, and tragic plot twists coupled with imaginative cinematographic techniques and lighting.

His newest movie "Thirst" is a story about "Sang-hyun (played by top Korea...| More

Park Chan-wook's Films to Be Screened at KOFA

Source | 2009/07/27 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

A special retrospective of the films by award-winning director Park Chan-wook will be held at the Cinematheque, Korean Film Archive (KOFA) next month.

The retrospective is part of the Cinematheque KOFA's monthly Replay program. There will be special screenings of Park's films, starting from his directorial debut "The Moon Is … The Sun's Dream" (1992) to his latest film "Thirst". "Thirst", a film about a priest who becomes a vampire, won the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes International Film Festival.

Also to be screened are Park's so-called vengeance trilogy films, "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", (2002), "Old Boy", (2003) and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance", (2005). Park won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004 for "Old Boy".

There will also be film screenings of "JSA - Joint Security Area" (2000), and "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" (2006).

Tickets are free. The Cinematheque KOFA is located in Mapo, Sangnam-dong. Visit http://www.koreafilm...| More

PARK Chan-wook Wins Hawaiian Honors

Source | 2009/07/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Organizers of the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) will present an award and hold a special advance screening of Korean auteur PARK Chan-wook's erotic-vampire drama "Thirst" with the director in attendance for a Q & A afterwards. The screening, provided by the film's US co-producer Focus Features, will take place July 26th.

During the director's visit, HIFF will have the honor to present PARK with the Vision in Film Award, an award that is given semi-regularly at the Festival, honoring directors who have contributed to the global film oeuvre. Past recipients have been Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou.

The screening is a special HIFF 'members only' event. "Thirst" will open in local theaters in Hawaii on August 14. HIFF Director of Programming, Anderson Le, says of the film, "Park Chan-wook's 'THIRST' is darkly sexy and baroque. Prepare to be visually enticed and accosted at the same time".

The Hawaiian fest takes place in mid-October. Audiences are already familiar with P...| More

'Thirst' to Premiere at Montreal's Fantasia

Source | 2009/07/06 | 0 comments | Permalink |

PARK Chan-wook's acclaimed vampire-thriller "Thirst" will have its North American premiere screening at the 13th Fantasia Film Festival, running July 9 – 27 in Montreal, Canada. The fest will screen over 100 feature films mainly from Asia, the United States and Europe.

"Thirst" became a Korean-American co-production when Universal Pictures boarded the project while in production. It is to be released in the United States in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on July 31, with a release in Canada through Alliance-Vivafilm also planned.

It is PARK's second film to win a Cannes competition prize, taking the Jury Prize at this year's festival, following a Grand Prize win in 2004 for the director's international breakthrough, "Old Boy".

The Fantasia Festival audience originally discovered PARK Chan-wook in 2001 with his first Korean hit, "JSA - Joint Security Area" followed by "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" in 2003, the first film of his « Vengeance » trilogy.

Nigel D'Sa ...| More

Park Chan-wook claims jury prize at Cannes

Source | 2009/05/25 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Cannes has once again smiled on Park Chan-wook, even if he wasn't at the top of the award list this time around.

The internationally-acclaimed Korean director snatched the Jury Prize at the 62nd Cannes film festival Sunday with "Thirst" (Bakjwi). Park shared the third-highest honor with British director Andrea Arnold, who was honored for "Fish Tank".

This is the second time the Korean director has been honored at Cannes. He won the Grand Jury Prize, the second-highest award, in 2004 with the film "Old Boy".

"Filmmaking is a sincere joy from the very beginning to the end, and the last phase of that joy is to be in the Cannes film festival", Park said at the awards ceremony.

"I'd like to share this honor with my very dear friend and true collaborator, Song Kang-ho", he added.

Song plays the lead in Thirst, a thriller featuring a priest-turned-vampire grappling with his new identity and thirst for blood and sex.

Park stepped into the limelight with his 2000 hit "JSA - Jo...| More