Mong-ta-joo

Nobody does thrillers like the Korean, nobody. If there is a god (it doesn't) he gave a full list of plot twists to Korean people to use it fo 400 years.

If you have seen as many films as I have in my life you may feel compelled to stop watching this movie, because, who cares about Another kidnapper, another obsessed and tormented mother ("Azooma") piecing the case together? and a hunted detective?. Seriously? How many times we have seen this and the (sometimes) over-melodramatic Korean style? Well,I am glad I pushed myself to see how this story would end! The clever and twisting last half of it, made me regret those times when I paused it to fix coffee,I am so glad I did not walk away when I felt a little bored with the "familiar" plot. The last thirty minutes will stick on your memory as one of those endings that must be watched again to savor a good writing,so rare and hard to find. Acting is good enough, in any case this is a must-watch, and I will recommend it to anyone who ask: Have you seen a good movie lately? So my rating 7.5 out of 10 for having such a clever ending!

Debut project from the director/writer, another in the long line of Korean 'new wave' crime dramas.

Film opens with the premise that an unsolved murder case is about to be closed after 15 years without progress -- reaching a 'statue of limitations'. Two police detectives are forced to notify the mother they will be ceasing the investigation of her young daughter. With a few days to investigate, the detectives uncover some potential last- minute leads and rush to track down the killer. Meanwhile, the still- distraught, but resourceful, mother discovers some clues of her own. Do either routes succeed, before time runs out?

This all then leads into the bulk of the film, an investigation into the kidnapping of another child. As the story progresses, themes of guilt and redemption emerge, mixed in with complications that impede the investigation. Slowly and suspensefully, details emerge during present day alongside flash-back revelations.

Solid acting all around, albeit some overwrought melodrama intermittently spliced in.

Most of the movie felt relatively fresh, despite borrowing from familiar Western crime dramas from over the decades.

Recommended

This is my first review after rating thousands of movies. I'm very found of Korean movies after watching Oldboy several years ago. However, this is not a mainstream Korean movie, at least not in countries like Greece. Mont-ta-joo is a surprise for me since it is not as popular as other Korean movies (oldboy, memories of a murder, madeo etc.) but it is a great movie!

The plot of the movie is ingenious with several upsets and with great acting (and not overacting). During the whole movie I could not take my eyes from the TV, trying to realize who could the kidnapper be. This is not just another kidnapping movie; it presents the drama of the victim and her agony, while it reveals slowly evidence about the conclusion of the case keeping tension at high levels during the whole movie. It also presents the investigators of the case as real people making mistakes and being affected by the victims.

One thing that surprise me about movies coming out of South Korea is the huge amount of revenge movies there are. It's not a handful of movies, there are dozens of movies. I think maybe half the South Korean movies I have seen have some sort of revenge theme.

This movie is riveting and like a murder mystery it sets all the pieces in places so that can pick them up and examine them.

Even then though, when you think you know what's going on there's a dawning realization that you've been wrong as the plot comes to fruition and the real truth comes to light.

It's a great movie with a magic ending and well worth the watch.