Cinema is a screen onto which we can project our fears, torments and the monstrosities of the world. The screen protects us from what we see, but cinema has also permanently anchored our nightmares around a few powerful images (empty houses, hostile attics and basements, demonic masks, bloodcurdling grimaces, disturbing postures). Throughout the summer, the Cinémathèque québécoise will be presenting a series of films encompassing more than one hundred and twenty years of horror, reminding us that what scares us most is to make the deepest of our fears tangible and credible.
Sang-hyun is a beloved and admired priest in a small town, who devotedly serves at a local hospital. He goes to Africa to volunteer as a test subject in an experiment to find a vaccine to the new deadly infectious disease caused by Emmanuel Virus (E.V.). During the experiment, he is infected by the E.V. and dies. But transfusion of some unidentified blood miraculously brings him back to life, and unbeknownst to him, it has also turned him into a vampire.
Park Chan-wook
After establishing himself as a leading Korean director in the year 2000 with his popularly and critically acclaimed feature Joint Security Area, Park Chan-wook became celebrated as a global auteur with Oldboy (2003), winner of the Grand Prix at the 57th Cannes Film Festival.
In the years since, he has continued to receive worldwide acclaim with films such as Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005); Thirst (2009), which won the Jury Prize at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival; Stoker (2013), his Hollywood debut; and The Handmaiden (2016), which not only screened in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, but also won the Best Film not in the English Language at the 71st BAFTA. From his first TV series The Little Drummer Girl which screened on the BBC, to his collaboration with Apple on the short film Life is but a Dream, director Park Chan-wook has constructed a unique cinematic world with his taboobreaking storytelling, fascinating characters and sensual visuals.
