Memories of Murder

This is probably the best crime thriller I've seen since "Insomnia," and contains the most haunting climax of any serial killer flick since "Seven." But like most films reaching for greatness, this is most admirable for its striking details.

The filmmakers here craft a taut, careful, and delicately strung together motion picture that relishes in its amazing development of mood, place, and character.

First, the mood: Haunting cinematography (rain falling on a small village at night, shadows darting across a thick field of grass, figures lurking in the woods, a masterfully choreographed hot pursuit scene on foot), a poignant music score (aided by the creepy use of a Korean pop song that accompanies each murder), and no-nonsense direction (peppered with fabulous doses of comic relief--how Shakespearan!) keep the film more and more intriguing at each turn and fascinating to watch.

Second, the place: South Korea, circa the late 1980's, and apparently under some sort of militia rule. This is inspired by the true story of Korea's first publicized (and still unsolved) serial killer case. This unique time and place serves as a wonderful respite from the typical American big-city setting of so many other films of this ilk.

Finally, the character development: The small details revealing the haunted souls of the detectives on the case is nothing short of brilliant. Witness the tiny executions of minutae: The cloth one rogue cop wraps around his boot so as not to leave scars when he kick-boxes suspects into submission, the harried chief of police checking his own blood pressure while trying to keep his off-the-cuff detectives in line or fighting to keep headline-starved reporters at bay, the young female officer desperately trying to showcase her abilities in crime solving between serving the chauvinistic detectives cups of fresh coffee, the outsider detective from Seoul's insistence that documents never lie (and the brutal irony at the climax that challenges his entire sense of being), and the main village detective's scathing speech on the difference between American FBI agents and Koren policemen. The beauty is in the details, and this film, like all the great ones, revels in their uncovering.

One flaw is that some might find the film a bit long in the tooth, but this is not to be missed for fans of serial killer thrillers and police procedural movies. For the Korean filmmakers, and the amazing cast...this is their master stroke.

I'm one of those people who tend to think that South Korean movies are perhaps a bit too slow-paced for my taste. Memories of Murder isn't a fast-paced film, by any means, but this time the slow pace made this movie about an investigation of serial killings so much better than 95% of its American counterparts.

Essentially, Memories of Murder is a drama first with thriller and comedy elements (yes, in the first hour or so the movie is actually quite funny). Kang-ho Song and Sang-kyung Kim are brilliant as the two cops who have drastically different views on how to solve a crime. The character development is fascinating and believable thanks to a great script.

Highly recommended.

This movie is in the tradition of hard-boiled detective stories. A rag-tag bunch of largely incompetent police detectives are on the hunt for a serial killer and blunder their way through a thick-headed investigation. Although it's based on real events, it never falls into the trap of treating its characters as accurately portrayed historical figures and instead goes full-on with digging around in the dirt of the story.

The recreation of 80s Korea is amazing. Everything is portrayed as cramped, squalid and thoroughly grimey. The cinematography is great all the way to the end, as is the music, costume, set design and acting. There is a good dose of comedy in many scenes, which I didn't expect in this sort of story. It works well.

It's a rock-solid piece of cinema with characters that never fall into good guy / bad guy stereotypes. It's much more thoughtful than it initially lets on, hiding a complex theme behind a seemingly straightforward cop thriller. Will watch again.

It's hard to encapsulate what Memories of Murder stands for as a movie, but I would say it's a sorrowful, but human experience, portraying various emotional stages throughout a harsh story which we, the audience, are going to live with the protagonists.

Cinematographically mesmerizing, it makes the most out of the scenery of everyday life on rural South Korea. Rain, solitude, quietness, the vastness of the grassland, the depth of a tunnel, all tainted by sepia colored lenses.

In this film Bong Joon-ho proves that he not only is an incredible storyteller, but also master in composition and camera movement. One of the finest examples is the scene where a new body is discovered. Here, the director unfolds the situation with a long take through the grassland, taking us on a trip in the disaster that Detective Park Doo-Man is going through as reporters get into the murder scene, a tractor erases a footprint, police officials falling as they try to get to the place, etc.

One of the biggest achievements resides in its pacing, achieving a subtle and brief change of moods, the film takes its risks with the ludicrous methods of Detective Cho Yong-koo without making the viewer think that some particular scene is out of place. The chase scene inevitably comes to my head as another prove of Bong Joon-ho ability with the camera, as he doesn't abuse any resource, he sneaks it by switching between quick cuts and long takes.

Bong's films are always impregnated with a political background that includes class struggle, heavy bureaucracy, corruption & civil guard brutality. The Host, Mother, Snowpiercer, Okja are clear examples of this and Memories of Murder isn't an exception. South Korean police force is depicted as an inefficient and arrogant law enforcement political arm that isn't capable of accepting the case is beyond their capabilities and these feelings of discomfort and anger caused by the police's negligence are exacerbated by the political scenario South Korea was experiencing.

My final word on this masterpiece is the tunnel scene. It makes the film's final transition from what began as a crime thriller to an exasperating psychological and sorrowful cinematic experience as we grow fond with our desperate protagonist, in what seems to be his last try to see through the eyes of the number one suspect, which ends in a frustrated attempt to solve the case. This takes us to the ending of Memories of Murder, which I will say is one of the most powerful ever seen on film... as detective Park Doo-Man looks straight into the camera, breaking the fourth wall and sorrowfully starring at the audience, looking one last time for those indistinct murderous eyes within the average crowd.

10/10.

The more South Korean films I see, the more I understand how it came to pass that filmmakers from that part of Asia are basically leading the world in terms of cinema in the 21st century.

These films are always very well made, with interesting plots and characterisation. But above all, they have nuance in spades. Nothing on screen is as simple as it appears. None of the characters are typical heroes or typical villains. None of the responses to anything on-screen are simple, either.

Scenes unfold in comedy and then tragedy, or the other way around - or both at once.

The additional layers to every scene and every character add a panoramic realism to what unfolds. These characters live and breathe on the screen. After watching "Memories of Murder", "The Wailing", or "The Host", you imagine that the characters are still doing what they were doing when the credits played.

That's the gift the South Koreans have given us with their wonderful and inventive cinema.

Forget America, unless you are addicted to comic book movies or remakes.

Korea is the one to watch.