Mong-ta-joo

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

If you have seen a lot of kidnapping movies (The Man from Nowhere, Mercy, Taken), Montage is just about the same.

BUT, the story is well-presented and answers all the questions. It kind of refreshing to have such a clear ending.

The story tells us how a mother of a lost child is dealing with her lost and never lose hope to look for justice. And also the detective who's having a hard time accepting the fact that the criminal slipped of his hand.

Eom Jeong-hwa and Kim Sang-kyung performance were unquestionably good. Eom had played the same role before and so did Kim.

Overall, I give a 9 because it's been a while since I saw a kidnapping movie and I'm glad that it doesn't make me stop midway and start thinking "Where have I seen this before?".

Totally worth your time.

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.

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.

It had been a long time since I have seen such a well rounded thriller, where motives are not cliché and predictive. The acting jives extremely well with the dialog (albeit I watched with sub-titles) and the actors were awesome.

The mother's acting was so realistic that in empathizing with her, a layer of understanding is added to the storyline. The story neatly makes a subtle point about the similarity in human motives, and how where you stand in relation to it, determines your perception.

The use of time is very interesting in this movie, like an origami. It starts as a plain paper (linear), but takes on elaborate form. There are a couple of movies where this technique has been used, but in this case, the time/origami texture is seamless.

I am sure the above description might sound abstract and arcane, but if you watch the movie, you will understand what I mean. :)

A gripping and intelligent thriller, a must see.