A Korean Catholic priest Sang-hyeon, despondent due to his work with the severely ill, volunteers for a medical experiment in Africa… but becomes infected with a deadly disease and dies during a blood transfusion to save his life.
And then he comes back to life.
He returns to Korea, where some people claim that he is a miracle worker. One person whose life is seemingly saved is Kang-woo, a childhood friend of Sang-hyeon; and the priest renews his relationship with Kang-woo, his mother Lady Ra, and Kang-woo's wife Tae-ju who was once the little girl that the two boys teased.
Meanwhile, the moral priest is increasingly disturbed by almost uncontrollable appetites…
This movie is a lot of things. Yes, it's a vampire movie. And a love story. And it's about a troubled family. It has been called operatic, and I would add 'visual poetry' at times. It's also got a lot of blood, occasional violence, weird dream (?) sequences, sex scenes that some call "erotic" (I was bored), and at times is hilarious and definitely not politically correct. (Stroke victim humor, anyone? Fart jokes?) Even the ending is hilarious and tragic.
Kang-ho Song does a fine job as the moody priest, but I felt he was just too old for the role. Ok-bin Kim as Tae-ju, the orphan girl who runs in her bare feet to escape her sorrows, is terrific in a complicated role and beautiful as well. Hae-suk Kim as Lady Ra is masterful and a pleasure to watch perform.
I'm not sure if I'm reading the symbolism correctly, but the Catholic characters in the film are depicted as noble (but often flawed), while the non-Catholic characters are less noble and even amoral at times.
I rate this as a 7 out of 10. The movie as a whole is not as good as many of its parts.
