Being a fan of Asian cinema this is probably the best crime thriller I've seen and contains the most haunting climax of any serial killer flick.
The Republic of Korea was affront with its first known serial killer in 1986. We find out during the opening narration of Memories of Murder that South Korea was at the time a military dictatorship, and for the next 2 hours we are given a lesson in how a strong, authoritarian government cannot always stop a single, determined criminal.
It is 1986, in the Gyungi Province of South Korea, and a woman has been found murdered in a drainage ditch on a field. A detective looks into the drainage ditch, staring at the deadbody, as if he is trying to see, in the evidence,recreating the image of what happend there. This, we get to know later, is his thing. He believes that just by looking into someone’s eyes, he can find out if its guilty or innocent.. He has complete faith in this ability of his, which is one of the reasons why the investigation is a blunderbuss from the word go. Who was this woman? Who killed her? A couple of days later, another woman shows up dead, also in a field, and there are similarities between the two murders: how her hands were tied behind her back, how her panties were put over her head. Both women were raped. It appears that they may be looking at a serial killer with a unique style.
The movie gives us one of the most vivid recreations of South Korean country town during the 1980s. With this wonderfully recreated background, the movie plays us like piano in its slow but steady pace.
The movie has the terrific ensemble. Their characters are not easy to forget. While we are watching their struggle closely and intimately, the detectives in the film are revealed as the characters free from the expected conventions due to the lively performances from the main actors. Song Kang-ho is brilliant as the lead detective.
Director Joon-Ho-Bongs second movie shows his talent and will be considered one of the best Asian filmaker.The tone and pace of the film will keep you hooked.
And then the movies epilogue sequence which turns out to be one of the most haunting closing scenes in my memory. The time has passed, and is more urbanized than before as one of the satellite cities surrounding Seoul, and one character coincidentally comes across one of the places in his memory. It feels sentimental at first, but, in the end, he and we are chillingly reminded that the memories of murder never leave him and others.
The Republic of Korea was affront with its first known serial killer in 1986. We find out during the opening narration of Memories of Murder that South Korea was at the time a military dictatorship, and for the next 2 hours we are given a lesson in how a strong, authoritarian government cannot always stop a single, determined criminal.
It is 1986, in the Gyungi Province of South Korea, and a woman has been found murdered in a drainage ditch on a field. A detective looks into the drainage ditch, staring at the deadbody, as if he is trying to see, in the evidence,recreating the image of what happend there. This, we get to know later, is his thing. He believes that just by looking into someone’s eyes, he can find out if its guilty or innocent.. He has complete faith in this ability of his, which is one of the reasons why the investigation is a blunderbuss from the word go. Who was this woman? Who killed her? A couple of days later, another woman shows up dead, also in a field, and there are similarities between the two murders: how her hands were tied behind her back, how her panties were put over her head. Both women were raped. It appears that they may be looking at a serial killer with a unique style.
The movie gives us one of the most vivid recreations of South Korean country town during the 1980s. With this wonderfully recreated background, the movie plays us like piano in its slow but steady pace.
The movie has the terrific ensemble. Their characters are not easy to forget. While we are watching their struggle closely and intimately, the detectives in the film are revealed as the characters free from the expected conventions due to the lively performances from the main actors. Song Kang-ho is brilliant as the lead detective.
Director Joon-Ho-Bongs second movie shows his talent and will be considered one of the best Asian filmaker.The tone and pace of the film will keep you hooked.
And then the movies epilogue sequence which turns out to be one of the most haunting closing scenes in my memory. The time has passed, and is more urbanized than before as one of the satellite cities surrounding Seoul, and one character coincidentally comes across one of the places in his memory. It feels sentimental at first, but, in the end, he and we are chillingly reminded that the memories of murder never leave him and others.
