Memento Mori - Gedenke des Todes

Memento Mori, as a sequel to Whispering Corridors, ditches the grainy, atmospheric feel of a gloomy autumn for a slick-looking summery feel. It may be incongruous with the nature of the film, but if it were to be shot exactly the same as Whispering Corridors then I would moan.

A lonely student at an all-girl Korean school finds a diary out in the schoolyard and is sucked into the world of the soon-to-be dead who has left behind. The film jumps around in time as the girl reads stories from the diary. A think a lot more could have been done with this concept since it has so much potential. But the film seems to take place all in a couple of days. Which doesn't give it enough of a change to develop. However, the version I saw was the 99-minute version of the film and since there is a 186-minute cut out there it may well contain a helluva lot more interesting story.

I didn't have a lot of trouble keeping-up with the characters this time though, but the story still seemed kinda incomprehensible. The flashbacks to the past could have been made a little bit more obvious.

Aside from this, it's an enjoyable time-waster.

"Memento Mori" is a well acted mix of ghost thriller and lesbian drama - a strange union, but a very succesfull one. The young leads deliver strong performances and make the subtle relationships believable. As another user already stated, there are some similarities (especially atmosphere-wise) to "The Virgin Suicides" and although I liked VS better, "Memento Mori" remains a strong movie.

Did it have any flaws? Yes it did. It got a little weird towards the end and I thought that the ghost-story part of the whole thing turned out rather silly. That said, "Memento Mori" remains a strong movie with a great atmosphere of sadness and foreboding.

8/10

Rating: 6 of 10 stars Genre: Horror, Drama. Scare Factor: 3 of 10 Acting: 5 of 10 Story: 5 of 10 Nation of origin: South Korea Viewed on: Tartan Asian Extreme DVD Video Format: Widescreen Audio Format: 5.1 DTS

"Memento Mori" is the second of movie in the "Whispering Corridors" trilogy. I wasn't all that crazy about "Whispering Corridors" but I thought I would give this a shot (as I'm sure I will give the third in the series (named "Whishing Stairs") a try once I can get a hold of it. "Memento Mori" really had little if anything to do with "Whispering Corridors" and could be watched by itself. "Memento Mori" like many Asian movies time warps back and forth throughout the course of the movie making it, like most Asian movies, more confusing than need be. It however doesn't spin and twist so much you can't follow it.

If you simply accept the fact that "Memento Mori" isn't a movie with any horror value I think you will find it somewhat enjoyable. Despite some extremely slow spots I never really felt unattached to what was happening which is a positive change from "Whispering Corridors". The story itself was nothing special however and wasn't one that I was really curious about what was going to happen next.

I have seen Memento Mori twice at the Melbourne International Film Festival and I think it's a very good film. My first impression of it was that it's quite like Virgin Suicides meets Carrie. And i maintain that it weaves between the romance and horror genres very effectively. I have not seen the original Yeogo Goedam but i assume it was more of a straight horror.

Because of it's genre crossing, Memento Mori adds to the horror theme of Shi-eun's return a sadness and tenderness that coagulates very strangely, but effectively with the terror-filled images of Shi-eun's body on the ground, and her haunting of the school. I really like the love story, but i see it as a horror film about adolescent love.

I had the privilege to speak to one of the directors, Kyu-Dong Min at the festival, and he said the film was supposed to tap into the horror of being an adolescent. Which i think he and his co-director do very well. the school-girl scenes are all extremely realistic. Some parts are humorous but humour is placed so tightly in the middle of horror that things shift so quickly.

the production design must be commended. I particularly love the piano design at the end of the film. With the diary, however, (i know, it's really good), but Kyu-Dong Min actually mentioned that they researched heaps of teenage girls' diaries and many were much more elaborate than the one they made for the film. just a sneak.

The cinematography too, should gain praise. Most parts are shot with stark whites, blacks and deep greens and it's really effective in bringing out the emptiness of the school in the lives of Shi-eun and Hyo-shin. But it is also the photography of the two girls on the roof during sunset really got me. when you first see it, it's a love scene - they walk left and right, playing with socks and all. And when you see it at the end of the film, it becomes a nostalgic scene.

Lastly, i must praise the acting of all three leads. Kim Min Sun is really likeable as Min-ah. Lee Young-Jin showed great control as the living dead girl and Park Yeh-jin arguably holds the whole film's acting performances together, both in terms of performance and narrative.

I really like Memento Mori. So far, it's in my top 3 films of the year. It's not exceptional. It's not one of those films with fantastically rapturous visual imagery, complex structure, or profound philosophical narrative. In fact, i don't know why i like the film as much as i do - apart from what i've just mentioned above. but i do. if i could see it again, i would. 9 out of 10.

Although the Korean name for Memento Mori would lead you to believe it is a sequel to Whispering Corridors, other than the setting, the two films have very little in common. Having seen the first film is not a requirement to see and enjoy this film. The story in Memento Mori involves a love affair between two students at an all-girl's school. One of the girl's, for various reasons, can't take it when the other girl "outs" their relationship and decides to break things off with tragic consequences. A third girl finds the diary the two girls wrote together and, through its pages, begins a horrifying journey to understand what happened to her classmates and how one of them could end up dead.

Regardless of how Memento Mori has been marketed to American audiences, it's not a horror movie. Instead, it's a poignant look at young love and the consequences taken to the extreme of a relationship that doesn't work out. Sure, there are moments of terror to be found in the movie, but even in what should be the final chilling moments of the movie, the horror is never as front and center as the drama. It's not a movie for those who demand a new adrenaline rush every five minutes. Memento Mori moves slow and allows you to get to know the characters, their fears, their problems, and to really develop a sense of caring for them.

I haven't rated the movie any higher because this type of film and this subject matter don't appeal to me on an entertainment level regardless of how well made the film is. As with the majority of the other Asian films I've seen recently, Memento Mori is technically very sound. The direction and cinematography are solid. The movie presents numerous uniquely filmed scenes that really standout. Although the special effects are used sparingly, they are very realistic when employed. The music is fitting for a movie like this. And the acting is rock solid.

One question that has bothered me after having recently watched both Whispering Corridors and Memento Mori is: Do teachers in Korea really treat their students in the manner presented here, with physical and emotional abuse? I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just now what I'm accustomed to seeing in teacher/student relationships.