Thirst wins jury prize at Cannes

15 May 24, 2009

by javabeans

Director Park Chan-wook had won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for Oldboy (the second-place award, below the Palme d’Or); this weekend, he won another award for his vampire horror movie Thirst as the festival closed on Sunday.

The film starring Song Kang-ho (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) and Kim Ok-bin (War of Money, Dasepo Naughty Girs) took the jury prize, the third-place honor (top prize went to The White Ribbon by Austrian director Michael Haneke; second to French film A Prophet).

Director Park said he would share his honor with his lead star Song, with whom he has worked several times already in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Joint Security Area: “I enjoy making movies from the very beginning through the end, and the last step of that enjoyment is the Cannes Film Festival. I’d like to share this honor with my dearest friend and colleague, actor Song Kang-ho.”

Via Festival de Cannes, Yahoo News, My Daily

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1 birdscout

May 24, 2009 at 1:33 PM

I read an article where the Korean member of the jury (sorry, I don't remember his name) was asked by a reporter if his being Korean would affect the way he votes for the winning movie, and his response was great: the only nationality I am during Cannes is "movies" (I am parapharasing here because I haven't got the article in front of me.)

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2 Biscuit

May 24, 2009 at 1:46 PM

Park Chan-wook is an awesome director and I'm so happy that he won! (well, third place that is... but third is still good!)

Congratulations~!

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3 Bzzbzz

May 24, 2009 at 2:07 PM

I'm sorry to tell that it's not the third place.

It's true that the Caméra d'Or is like the second place but the Grand Jury Prize isn't related. It's something totally different.
This prize is facultative and the purpose is to encourage a new director.

In this case, it's a little confusing to award this prize to Park Chan Wook who already is a great and well known director who already won the Caméra d'Or (so, the real second place) in 2OO4.

So, I don't understand the jury...
But it's not the only one things i don't understand in this 62th Festival de Cannes.
:-) It's just Cannes.

Finally, sorry for my english. I'm French.

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4 Javabeans

May 24, 2009 at 2:15 PM

Hm, the Yahoo article (and another Time.com piece I read) called the awards second- and third-place honors. Perhaps they meant it in an informal sense, not an official ranking, as if to say, "This is the second-most prestigious honor available..."

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5 coffee princess

May 24, 2009 at 2:22 PM

i really like this directors work ....i expect to be hearing of a hollywood remake of this movie

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6 Sere

May 24, 2009 at 2:29 PM

Psst, Park Chan-wook shared the prize with Andrea Arnold for Fish Tank. Still, kudos to PCW

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7 Bzzbzz

May 24, 2009 at 2:37 PM

It was just for information... :D

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8 Sonam

May 24, 2009 at 2:55 PM

Congratulations to Park Chan Wook. He won the 2nd prize for Oldboy and now the third prize for Thirst. It's hard enough getting selected for the world's most prestigious film festival but to win something every time is amazing. Maybe it will be the Golden Palme the third time.
Also congratulations to Brilliante Mendoza of the Phillipines for best director. Woah!
Go Asia!
And yes, Song Kang Ho is peerless!

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9 ndegeocello

May 24, 2009 at 3:39 PM

I know we're not supposed to trust everything on Wikipedia, but...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_Prize_(Cannes_Film_Festival)
"It is considered the third most prestigious prize at the film festival, after the Palme d'Or and the Grand Prix."

On another related note, Thirst is already in talks for a US remake. Bleh.

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10 nokcha

May 24, 2009 at 4:17 PM

Great news! He is a fantastic storyteller and his vision in terms of set direction is amazing. He reminds me of the pairing of Wan Kar Wai and Chris Doyle.

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11 frenchie

May 24, 2009 at 5:18 PM

Hey Bzzbzz,
i think you're a little confused. First of all, the Camera d'or is not the second place of the Official selection of the festival. You have first the Palme d'Or, then the Grand Prix, and then the Prix du Jury (which was ex-aequo this year). Park Chan-wook got the Grand Prix in 2004 for Old Boy, not the Camera d'or. And this year he got the Prix du Jury.
And I too am french and cinephile.