FEATURE: Shocktober '15 - Thirst

Over the course of October, I shall be watching one horror movie a day and reviewing it right here for your reading pleasure. I haven't seen any of the films I'll be watching before and you can find the full list here.

Father Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) is a well respected priest who volunteers at a local hospital, providing comfort to those in need. He finds himself wavering and decides to volunteer for an experiment to find a vaccine for the Emmanual virus, a deadly infection sweeping through the population. The experiment goes wrong and he contracts the EV, but is the only one of 500 to survive the process. Given his newfound aversion to sunlight and desire for human blood, he quickly deduces he is a vampire. He's still desperate to uphold his faith and not fall into sin, including killing people, but an affair with a childhood friend's wife, Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin), leads him down a path full of carnal and fleshly desires.

Thirst is, rather surprisingly, based on the Emile Zola novel, Thérese Raquin, taking several plot elements into the narrative structure. I say surprisingly because there aren't actually any vampires in the book and as a 19th century work set in France, it seems like a bit of a leap for a contemporary Korean horror film. And yet, what the two texts share is the same kind of thematic exploration, following individuals imprisoned by faith or society and pushing them to their psychological breaking point with the conflict their circumstances induce. The stories differ on choosing who to follow; Zola places Thérese in focus, while director Park Chan-Wook builds his narrative around Father Sang-hyun (who corresponds to Laurent in Zola's novel).

In Zola's novel, Laurent and Thérese's behaviour is often described in animalistic terms and as a novelist, Zola was fascinated in the blurred lines between the human and the bestial. The vampire is a figure that occupies those blurred lines, managing to be both all at once so it makes complete sense that Park and fellow screenwriter Jeong Seo-kyeong combine their narrative with that of Zola's. The film is called Bakjwi in Korean, which translates literally as Bat, already hinting that it is exploring its lead's humanity through his vampirism. 

That conflict is bound up within Sang-hyun, played beautifully by Song, who spends much of the movie wrestling his faith and desire not to sin with his need to consume human blood. He uses to both his advantage and that of the people helps, taking blood from people who desire to commit suicide to ease their passing and to assuage his own hunger. It's only when he takes Tae-ju into that world that this balance is thrown out; their murderous scheme to kill her sick and spoilt husband Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun) sets off a chain of events that sees everything spiral out of Sang-hyun's control. Her animalistic side takes over and he is forced into confronting his own humanity in order to redress that balance.

Their relationship is what gives the film its heart, a story of two people broken by circumstances out of their control and finding each other to take solace in. Before the husband's murder, it plays out with a sweetness that wouldn't be out of place in a romantic comedy. There's lots of humour in there too, some as black as it comes (Kang-woo's grinning post-murder apparitions) as well as things like a wardrobe doubling as a coffin for Sang-hyun to sleep in or the inventive use of his priest's cassock billowing around him as he leaps, connoting a bat's wings. Park deftly keeps all of these aspects running throughout the film and achieving a balance that never tips it into parody, nor become too meditative.

Thirst is wonderfully idiosyncratic and a refreshing kind of adaptation, opting to use its literary basis to explore the soulfulness of vampirism rather than simply the capacity for violence. It makes for an elegant, contemporary vampire tale and a memorable experience.

- Becky

You can find my other Shocktober '15 reviews here.

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TV REVIEW: The Paradise - Episodes 2 & 3

As The Paradise sashays on through Episodes 2 and 3 of the series, some distinctly unsubtle yet nonetheless valuable themes are beginning to emerge. I’ll come back to these later, but in the meantime, let’s browse through what’s been happening in everyone’s favourite fictional department store.

In Episode 2, with Miss Audrey (Sarah Lancashire) about to be wed and thus depart her position as Head of Ladieswear, there is much gossip as to who will replace her. A French business associate of Moray’s (Emun Elliott) by the name of Clemence (Branka Katic) arrives. Once safely ensconced in the town, she spends her time spouting some very progressive opinions and generally setting the cat amongst the pigeons by flirting dangerously with everyone in sight, whilst attempting to sell her own brand of fireworks. Quite literally. Tom Weston (Ben Daniels) continues to throw his weight around at every possible opportunity, flaunting his desires for both Clemence herself as well as shop girl Clara (Sonya Cassidy) in the face of his equally manipulative wife Katherine (Elaine Cassidy)’s face. Meanwhile Denise (Joanna Vanderham) frets about Moray’s feelings for Clemence, as well as Clememce’s treatment of Dudley (Matthew McNulty) in her business games. Disgraced but fiercely loyal former employee Jonas (David Hayman) returns in mysterious circumstances with a terrible fever, but quickly settles back into his old place in the store hierarchy.

Episode 3 saw competition for Head of Ladieswear really hot up, with Denise and Clara back at loggerheads as of old. Tom Weston managed to become even more sinister, shouting at his admittedly rather shrewish wife, barking orders at his young daughter and threatening to send her away to boarding school, much to lonely Katherine’s distress. Moray and Denise grew further apart as the extent of the Weston’s manipulative plans began to come to light, as his fears for her safety as his lover overshadowed his professional role as the employer of an ambitious young woman looking to get ahead. The charming Mr Weston, not content with treating Clara and Denise as pawns, then took it upon himself to cancel the annual staff outing, leaving it to Denise to find ways for the staff to have a good time. Naturally, she more than rose to the challenge.

Going back to those themes I hinted at earlier, the first and most obvious in these two episodes was that of a woman’s right to follow her own path, regardless of what society dictates. Clemence’s lovely speech in which she stated that ‘when we give in to our passions, we are free’ summed this idea up rather well, as she suggested to all the female member s of Paradise staff that they could do anything they wanted as well as, if not better than their male counterparts. More specifically, though, this particular theme was seen through the trope of marriage, especially in the idea of career versus matrimony. Miss Audrey, having long battled between the two, was the first to see the light, and to recognise that this ‘either or’ idea is fundamentally wrong. Denise wasn’t far behind, as it became clear that Moray still treats her almost as a child as someone to be protected. She too will have to choose one day we’re told, as Clara retorts ‘you can have the job, but you’ll lose the man’.

The other blindingly obvious theme in these two hours of Paradise viewing was that of competition. In this case, the rivalry was present in both genders. This was most apparent with the paired couples of Katherine and Tom Weston, and Denise and Moray. Whilst the latter’s relationship is erring more on the side of chocolate box than abusive, unlike their rivals, they still disagree on professional matters, and this affects their personal relationship. Katherine and Tom, on the other hand, are so desperate to outdo each other that their professional and personal lives bleed into one, with their ownership of The Paradise and relationship with persons in it at the centre of everything. There were also rivalries between men and men, women and women, as the arrival of the alluring Clemence set up Tom and Dudley, Denise and Clemence (initially, at least) and later Katherine and Clemence as love rivals. There was also the obvious streak of competition running through the proceedings of replacing Miss Audrey, not only amongst the applicants but amongst the decision makers as well.

Seemingly not content with being a blissfully silly escapist drama, The Paradise has actually begun to establish some rather clever ideas. Naturally, they’re not totally explored to their full, dark potential and everybody’s at home happy with a cocoa by bedtime (except the Westons) but then, what more do you want from a Sunday evening?

At the moment, at least, The Paradise’s department store dramas are balancing the books just right.

The Paradise is next shown on Sunday, 8pm, BBC One.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vhpsv

Jen

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SERIES REVIEW: The Paradise

It only ended  a few days ago, and I already miss it.

I’m talking, of course, about The Paradise, product of the BBC’s latest rummage through the period drama cupboard. Based on an Emile Zola novel and with Sarah Lancashire amongst the corset bearing cast – it was always going to be good.

The storyline follows Denise, a young shop girl from Peebles as she embarks on a new life in the city, as well as a new job in local department store, The Paradise. The shop is run, naturally, by a devilishly handsome, clever man named Moray who, naturally, she falls wholeheartedly in love with rather quickly. The enigmatic Moray, however, is, naturally, engaged to manipulative neighbourhood gentry type Katherine Glendenning (Elaine Cassidy), who, hell bent on making Moray love her back no matter what the cost, will stop at nothing to get her way. Throw in a fantastic supporting cast of other shop workers, including the aforementioned Ms Lancashire, Stephen Wight and period drama veteran Ruby Bentall, and a guest appearance from Arthur Darvill for good measure, and you’ve got the makings, it would seem, of a very good show.

And lo, it was indeed good. Emun Elliott is brilliant as the seductive, charming Moray, perfectly capturing the torment of a man caught between respectability, success and his own feelings with none of the usual maudlin stiff upper lip, sense of responsibility frequently bestowed upon us by dramas of the genre. The man never stops smiling, or winking, or generally looking rather animated for longer than ten seconds throughout the entire series. At worst, he gets a bit angry – a welcome change from, in my view anyway, the expressionless men of BBC2’s Parade’s End of a few months back. Joanna Vanderham is adorable as Denise, refreshingly clever for a period female lead, whilst remaining a caring, kind and ultimately three dimensional person. Again, and I can't say the word enough it seems, all very refreshing.

The older characters and generally formal dialogue, however, keep it safely the other side of the comforting ‘in another time’ line, making the series, I found, perfect cosy night or lazy Saturday viewing. It’s also oddly engrossing, possibly because of the team like, homely atmosphere of the department store, as well as the engaging nature of the characters’ relationships with each other. The, albeit brief, appearance of the insanely versatile and ever talented Arthur Darvill didn’t hurt either.

My only real criticism of the show, and I seem to find myself saying this rather a lot about dramas, so apologies for the repetition, is the ending. Having led us by the hand into this interesting, poignant and sweetly funny world, the production team seemed to suddenly let go and disappear off into the night at the last moment, credits rolling behind them. Happy and again, very safe, though the ending was, it came about all too quickly and gave no real sense of resolution or character depth. Which was a huge shame, really, as I haven’t got a bad word to say about the rest of it.

Anyway, ignoring the irritatingly brief, and all too soon ending, The Paradise is well worth a catch on iplayer if you can. If not, the box set would make a lovely Christmas present- even if you do only buy it for me.

-Jen

You can read more of Jen's writing here: https://memyselfandtheothers.wordpress.com/

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