Director Park says 'frankly expected' Cannes award

(ATTN: photos available)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- His knees wobbled as he stood up to receive the Cannes
honor, not with surprise, but pure joy. Basking in a standing ovation of several
minutes from the 2,300 audience at the film's preview night, Park Chan-wook had
"frankly expected" his morbid vampire thriller to grab an award, if not the top
among all.

"The decision was up to the jurors, not the audience, but I frankly had some
anticipation (about receiving an award)," the South Korean director told a press
gathering in Seoul Thursday. "Having been to many film festivals in the past, I
knew such warm and sincere applause was rare."
Park grabbed the Jury Prize, the third-highest award at the Cannes film festival,
Monday (Korean time) for his newest release "Thirst (Bakjwi)," marking the second
time for the auteur to be honored at the world's largest film competition.
The movie, featuring a Catholic priest who begins to question moral and religious
boundaries after he turns into a vampire after a strange blood transfusion,
triggered intense disputes at home and was considerably better received by the
critics and viewers at the French film fest.
"Someone told me 'Thirst' was the first vampire film up for competition in the
fest's 62 year-history," Park added. "While the movie was considered too artsy in
the local market, it was considered a light entertainment movie at the festival.
I think (jurors considered) that dual aspect as the film's charm."
Having won the Cannes' second-highest Grand Jury Prize in 2004 with "Oldboy,"
Park's works are, at times, considered too abstruse and brutal for ordinary fans'
taste. But the 46-year-old filmmaker denied he deliberately ignored ordinary
moviegoers and sought only honors at film fest.
"Some accused me of making 'Thirst' that way to go to Cannes. It was an amusing
view, but still only a wild guess," he said.
Actor Song Gang-ho, who teamed up with Park for the third time in "Thirst" after
pulling off a superb performance in "Joint Security Area" in 2000, said he felt
little disappointment that he did not win the best actor's award.
"I regard any prize as a show of respect for the film as a whole, so I was very
happy and proud," he said.
Calling him a "great friend and colleague," director Park had said during the
acceptance speech at Cannes that the award belonged to Song.
"Thirst," praised by the jurors of Cannes as a "unique noir film," competed for
top honors at this year with a platoon of big-name directors including Quentin
Tarantino, Pedro Almodovar, Xavier Giannoli, Jane Champion and Ang Lee.
Park's next project will be producing a film directed by Bong Joon-ho, which will
be co-produced and distributed by a Hollywood studio. "Thirst" became the first
South Korean film to be co-produced by Hollywood's Universal Pictures.
Hitting the local screens on April 30, "Thirst" has drawn more than 2 million
viewers at home and has been sold to more than 10 countries, including France,
Greece and Brazil, for screening worldwide later this year.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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