Bakjwi (2009)
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A Catholic priest becomes a vampire after a failed medical experiment and falls into a dark, obsessive romance.
The story
Catholic priest Sang-hyun volunteers for a medical experiment to find a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV). The experiment fails, and Sang-hyun is infected but recovers after a blood transfusion. His miraculous recovery leads thousands of parishioners to believe he has healing powers. Among them is his childhood friend Kang-woo and his wife Tae-ju. While attending a mahjong night at Kang-woo's house, Sang-hyun finds himself attracted to Tae-ju. However, Sang-hyun soon relapses into his illness and wakes up needing shelter from the sun, having transformed into a vampire.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After becoming a vampire, Sang-hyun begins drinking blood from a comatose patient and later resorts to stealing blood transfusion packs from a hospital to avoid murder. He begins an affair with Tae-ju, who lives with her ill husband Kang-woo and overprotective mother-in-law Mrs. Ra. When Tae-ju discovers Sang-hyun's true nature, she initially flees in fear but later suggests killing Kang-woo. Sang-hyun eventually kills Kang-woo during a fishing trip, claiming he hid the body in a lake. He then kills his superior at the monastery to drink his blood. Mrs. Ra falls into a paralyzed state after Kang-woo's death. Haunted by visions of the corpse, Sang-hyun and Tae-ju's relationship fractures. After Sang-hyun kills Tae-ju, he feeds on her blood, turning her into a vampire. The two begin killing indiscriminately, leading to a chase across rooftops. After Mrs. Ra alerts Kang-woo's friends, Tae-ju kills two and Sang-hyun eliminates a third. They flee together, but Sang-hyun ultimately leads them to a desolate field where he intends for them to burn at dawn. Tae-ju joins him on the car hood, and both are burnt to ash by the sun while Mrs. Ra watches from the backseat.
- Original title
- Bakjwi
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 134
- Production countries
- South Korea; United States
- Original languages
- Korean; English
- Directors
- Park Chan-wook
- Writers
- Park Chan-wook · screenplay; Jeong Seo-kyeong · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Song Kang-ho · Sang-hyun; Kim Ok-vin · Tae-ju; Kim Hae-sook · Mrs. Ra; Shin Ha-kyun · Kang-woo; Park In-hwan · Fr. Roh; Song Young-chang · Seung-dae; Oh Dal-su · Young-du; Ra Mi-ran · Nurse Yu
- Genres
- horror; thriller; erotic
- Themes
- adultery; religious horror; infectious disease; transformation
- Tone and mood
- stylish; bloody; fresh
- Premise and plot tags
- vampire; priest; medical experiment; forbidden love
- Source material / true-story basis
- Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola (1867)
- Content notes
- full-frontal adult male nudity
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success in South Korea.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 81% · review count: 119
- Awards and nominations
- Jury Prize · Cannes Film Festival · 2009 · win; Palme d'Or · Cannes Film Festival · 2009 · nomination
- Production trivia
- It was the first Korean feature made with both Korean and U.S. studio funding and distribution.; Director Park Chan-wook asked Song Kang-ho to star in a vampire film as early as Joint Security Area.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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