Apparently Koreans don’t like it when you mess with their priests. As soon as the first teaser poster for “>Thirst became public, it was banned for being “too provocative and disturbing.”
Variety recently reported the following details: The poster (pictured below on the left) features the figure of a bat, which is the Korean title of the film, using the images of its leading character, a priest-turned-vampire (Song Kang-ho), being strangled by a naked woman (Kim Ok-bin). The ban is the work of the South Korea’s Media Rating Board, which has become more strict about the depiction of sexuality these days.
After doing a little digging online, I came across its replacement (shown on the right) on Hancinema.net, who also provided some interpretation for the poster. They see it as a contrast between good and evil, and man and woman. It also hints at the film’s central relationship between a vampire priest and a femme fatale.
Overseas markets for Thirst, which is co-financed by Universal, will still see the original poster used in promotions for the film.
