Customer Reviews

Memories of Murder

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Since a synopsis would be redundant here, I'll confine myself to praise alone.

Each positive comment that precedes this is accurate. I watched this movie yesterday. I couldn't take my eyes off it. Everything taking place onscreen was riveting, from the simple act of walking down a dark lonely road in the rain, to a wild chase by three desperate detectives. This movie held me in thrall.

As a new viewer of Asian movies, I try to analyze the reason I tend not to be interested in western works any longer. I finally came to the conclusion that it has to do with the accessibility of the players. They seem to be people first, actors by choice, and stars, by the public making them so.

In Memories of Murder, I saw this human factor almost too painfully. By the end of the story, I was in tears. Even now, the mood prevails. It's been so long since these crimes took place, and I don't know absolutely that they remain unsolved, but I think it's the case, and I think about that.

The actors have become the people in my mind, and the horrible sense of defeat that becomes palpable eventually, is heartbreaking. When one relates to the inroads made on the health; mental and physical; of the detectives, who are ultimately portrayed as tireless and completely dedicated to the case, you realize that you've watched something that is historic. You have seen the probable truth.

The way this movie draws you into it, so that you are walking through dangerous rain, with a warning shout in your throat, points to the brilliance of the director and the players.

It is difficult to say, "I love this movie", just as it is hard to say, I love Silence of the Lambs, because love is a peculiar word to use for such fare.

But yes, I love it for the fact that during it, I was in a small village in South Korea in a terrible era of air-raid warnings, military dictatorship, and the hopeless pursuit of a serial killer, and landed back here in this time and place with a thud, only after turning off the DVD player, and going to the kitchen for a glass of water. I was there, I felt the desperation, and I felt the defeat and the sorrow of the detectives, who were essentially decent enough human beings when all was said and done.

There are not many movies that can time-travel you into their present. This will do it.

I most seriously recommend that you view the interviews with the director and the stars (all of them are stars of a special kind in my mind) in order to dispel some of the hold the story will have on you.

These are incredibly interesting people, and it's a sheer joy to see them smiling and peaceful. They're intelligent, educated and articulate. The younger members of the cast, the less seasoned, are so beautiful in their desire to do it right.

They definitely did it right. They were wonderful, and they thanked the interviewer. How lovely that was to see.

I watched the movie using the English subtitles rather than the English dubbing because I wanted the authenticity. The subtitles were very good.

Heads up, everyone! Despite the fact that Nancy Allen is listed here by amazon.com as starring in this film, she most definitely does not. The film being advertised here as due to be released on DVD in August 2005 in the U.S. is a Korean film originally released overseas in 2003 under the title "Salinui Chueok," its title in English being "Memories of Murder." It's an amazing, unique, intense, sometimes hilarious, always fiercely intelligent murder mystery from the powerful young Korean director Joon-ho Bong and features a 100% Korean cast speaking Korean (with English subtitles). Nancy Allen only wishes she'd been in this movie!

A few hours ago I was in the grip of insomnia and was playing around with Comcast On Demand to see if there was anything worth seeing that I hadn't seen already when I noticed a section under Free Movies called "Palm Pictures," a section I hadn't explored before. I clicked on "Palm Pictures," then on "Palm Festival," saw "Memories of Murder" listed, read the brief synopsis, and figured, what the heck, there's no better time to watch a Korean film than 2 a.m., so I went for it, figuring it wouldn't be a tragedy if I wound up dozing off ...

Not a chance! I was wide-eyed with my mouth open from beginning to end. Never even made it to the fridge. Forgot all about eating, drinking, or even breathing at times, and sleep was definitely not an option. Once the end credits rolled, I was hurtling toward my computer with one question in my mind: "Who is this astounding dude Joon-ho Bong, and where oh where can I buy a DVD of this movie?"

Well ... turns out you can find inexpensive DVDs of Joon-ho Bong's "Memories of Murder" on eBay, but I think they're Region 0 imports, which isn't saying they're bad necessarily, but now that I've discovered that a Region 1 DVD is coming out in the U.S. a scant few weeks from now, I'm holding out for it. I only hope it has all of the special features (interviews with the director and the actors, special effects commentary, an alternate ending, some discussion of the actual murders in Korea upon which the film's story was based, etc.) I've seen mentioned on the Internet as being present on the European and Asian DVDs.

What an eye-opener this film was for me! Superb acting. Gorgeous photography. Slightly improbable plot in parts, but I doubt you'll care; I sure didn't. "Silence of the Lambs" was improbable in parts as well but was still riveting. I found the Korean language in this film fascinating to listen to and wasn't bugged by the subtitles at all. In fact, half the time I forgot to read the subtitles because whatever I needed to know was all in the actors' faces and in the landscape ... and what faces! What a landscape!

Oh, and Nancy Allen actually did appear in a mediocre 1990 made-for-TV movie called "Memories of Murder," but it's not the same as Joon-ho Bong's blockbuster Korean hit "Memories of Murder" from 2003, so be careful when you order, and please see the terrific review (wish I'd written it!) of Joon-ho Bong's "Memories of Murder" at the IMDb website for more details.

Whatever you do, don't miss this film!

In the 1986 when South Korea was under totalitarian rule there was a series of grisly murders of young women in a rural area. The rural police used unconventional methods in order to attempt to uncover the identity of the killer after they discovered the first body. When a second body is discovered a police officer from Seoul is sent to help with the investigation, but the rural police become more crude in their methods. This leads to a further distrust of the police force as it begins to cloud the police force's own judgment as more bodies are discovered. Memories of Murder is an interesting investigation story that displays a societal phenomenon of the rural area that is plagued of poor policing and a murderer. The director Joon-ho Bong creates an intelligent and brilliant cinematic experience as he reveals the truth behind a true event that took place in South Korea in 1986.

Memories of Murder is based on the true story of S. Korea's first reported serial killer. The murders occur in a country town and focus on the year 1986. Detective Park (the wonderful Kang Ho Song) and Detective Cho are assigned to the case, but the investigation is poor, and the detectives inexperienced in such serious crimes. Their idea of solving the case is by beating, torturing and coercing confessions out of any outcast that comes under their radar.
Detective Seo from Seoul is brought onto the case to help with the investigation, but even after a few hopeful leads the case seems to go nowhere.
Memories of Murder shows an interesting twist to the police procedural. The director and writer, Joon Ho Bong, brings something to the genre you don't often see: comedy. For those who are use to seeing Kang Ho Song as a composed and calculated man (such as he was in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and JSA)will be surprised to find him more as a bumbling, obnoxious country bumpkin detective. He's particularly amusing though, especially when singing off key in a bar.
There are other great touches in the film; like for example after the detectives finish interviewing a suspect about the murder they are shown casually pushing their stalled car down the road. And you won't see anyone do better drop kicks in cinema than the actors do in this film.
I had a few problems with Memories. There was an unnecessary sex scene that seems out of place in the film, and the amputation of a detective's leg is mentioned, and then never brought up again. The movie also has a few cliches, but all of these problems were small as compared to the movie as a whole.
Memories of Murder does not treat the true events lightly, as we see the detectives pour their hearts into finding the serial killer. Unfortunately, so far the effort has been for not.

Director Joon-ho Bong does a wonderful job, in his depiction of the investigation which was based on a true story, surrounding a serial murderer in a pastoral Korean village in 1986. Without schooling in modern investigative, two rural detectives Park and Cho attempt to use brutality and intuition to apprehend the murderer. They are joined in the inquest by an inspector from Seoul, Detective Seo who despite a more modern approach is nonetheless also flummoxed in his pursuit.

Although there are many clues provided by the killer and a plethora of suspects, the detectives collaboratively cannot definitely pin the crime on any particular individual. Their frustration mounts when they receive a response from the U.S. in reference to a DNA test, that clears the prime suspect.

Seventeen years elapse and detective Park, who has retired from the police, at the behest of his wife, and is now a businessman. His travels bring him into the proximity of the location of the first murder. The memory of the case lures him back to the site, where he learns from a young schoolgirl that some nondescript person presumably the killer, had also been recently checking out the site.

This film is quite simply the best I've seen about a serial killer.It puts "Hannibal"and "Silence of the Lambs"to shame because both are such obvious fantasies-only "Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer"comes close and that film doesn't touch on the investigative angle-this film has some dark humor,but it is overshadowed by the air of menace and the cinematography captures this excellently-particularly in one scene on an overcast windy day-it goes right through you like a chill-this is apparently based on a true case and the ending is anything but "hollywood"-it is quietly devastating.The inability of the police to make any serious progress despite their hard(and sometimes overzealous) work is very disquieting-the acting and direction are first rate-hollywood better look over its shoulder at Korea where more and more films with great scripts and production values have been originating in recent years.

Terrific movie. Old story; cops hunt for killer. Country cops; they investigate by picking the perpetrator and beating a confession out of him. They get a perp, they give a beating, they get a confession.

Then, more murders.

The cops repeat the process.

Eventually, the cops learn to be police. Too late, the murderer has moved on.

They just miss him. The last 90 seconds will chill you stone cold.

Really, really cool movie.

On the basis of just four feature films so far, Bong Joon-Ho has emerged as one of the major filmmakers in the world. His is a profoundly unsettling, anti-humanist, and anti-spiritual voice. What has always been compelling about his films is the rejection of both Western secular humanism and Eastern "spirituality". Bong Joon-Ho unapologetically uses all of the resources that film already has at his disposal. But he is a true artist, and his nihilistic vision is uncompromisingly and entirely his own.

It has been said before, but it is worth repeating: He uses the most conventional genre elements in all of his films, freely deploying Hitchcock, the great films of Hollywood's Second Golden Age, especially film noir, the French New Wave, and even Spielberg on the one hand while simultaneously evoking the more independent, open-ended, and adventurous art films of the Japanese masters Kurosawa and Ozu and a great director/mentor like Hou Hsiao-Hsien on the other.

I am not suggesting that Bong Joon-Ho is a derivative, Mannerist stylist. That would be someone like Quentin Tarantino, who apparently admires Bong Joon-Ho's work. As well he should because Bong Joon-Ho is a true artist who makes films about life whereas Tarantino himself has only made films about films. In Bong Joon-Ho's case, the originality is achieved by using the recognizable modes of narrative filmmaking in order to create, not just allude to, another world, another universe. On the surface, that universe appears to be rural Korean society. But in the broadest, most relevant sense, it is, implicitly, every "country" society that is trying to come to grips with a now-dominant "city" ethos. His subject is the severe personal and social dislocation that results from the often unbearable tension between an Old Order that is under immense pressure from the new order, Modernity.

In the chaos that inevitably ensues from the struggle between Old and New orders, the serial killer is the most horrifying aberration who emerges, a de-humanized human being who acts out his violent fantasies where most of us will not (it is usually a he because men have the most to lose with every radical change). Because he is not readily caught, he is emboldened, keeps on doing it, and even refines his technique while always being "faithful" to its ceremonial aspects, the human "routine" turned into a perverted "ritual". People have killed and will continue to kill family, friends, colleagues, and lovers, but always for a "reason". The serial killer kills mostly anonymous others (hence any guilt is mitigated from the beginning) purely for sadistic pleasure and gratification.

It is surely not accidental that Bong Joon-Ho was drawn to the true story of "Korea's first serial killer". This fact alone is, in its own perverse way, a landmark in Korea's historical transition from agrarian to industrial, modern culture. There are no serial killers in pre-modern societies. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THEM TO BE. The serial killer is a modern "development", and most serial killers are found in Europe and the United States to this day. (As more emergent societies prosper and become part of the global economy, they will inevitably and sadly also produce serial killers.) Does this mean that there were no mass murderers in history? Of course not. There were many. One characteristic they had in common: They were all rich and powerful. A mass murderer is not the same phenomenon as the serial killer, who is typically (though not always) a marginalized, abused, and disadvantaged figure, an outcast of society fighting back, making his existence known in the most terrifying manner possible, and actually undermining the society's sense of order and stability.

The first Korean serial killer was able not only to emerge but to flourish - he killed ten women between 1986 and 1991 - with impunity as the system itself lagged behind and never ever caught up with him. As is now well-known, the killer was never caught. His appearances in Bong Joon-Ho's film are among the most purely horrifying sequences ever committed on film: A head bobs up in the background as the victim in the foreground slows down, sensing his presence. When she turns around to see if someone is following her, the head quickly bobs down, a brief, almost delicate, and unmistakable disturbance in the landscape that we see in quick cuts. In the film's single most excruciating sequence, we see him again, a darkness hanging from a tree like a giant animal/bird with a clear view of two potential victims who pass each other while walking in opposite directions of a deserted road. The camera eerily becomes HIS gaze, panning left and right and then back again, showing how he could not decide which prey to choose. This "indecisive" gaze makes us privy somehow to his thoughts: What unbelievable good luck, not just one but two victims, which one shall I have tonight, he must be thinking, as he knows well enough he cannot plunge below and have them both. He thinks it's the one on the right, begins to make his move, and then, heart-stoppingly, PAUSES - even Time is on his side - just before attacking because he is reminded by the other one whom he must let get away. He attacks her instead, his youngest victim (she was 13 years old).

Just when we think we have seen the worst, Bong Joon-Ho tightens the screws further by showing us a very difficult--to-watch sequence of her last moments alive: The killer's PREPARATIONS for her rape, mutilation, and death. Until then, all we have seen are decomposing corpses (there is one "flashback" re-telling by a woman who survived an attack; because she survived to tell the tale, the sequence is not horrifying). And we never ever see the rape or murder - the crime - itself. He binds her from head to foot, gags her mouth, but makes sure she sees what he is about to do to her. The killer then meticulously lays out on the ground very close to her terrified and tearful eyes various knives and sharp objects, all emblems of rural culture, that he will use on her. Like the other victims, she is also the first and only witness to the crime, a victim/eyewitness, a "double violation", the most extreme act of cruelty imaginable. When her body is found, we learn through dialogue the details of her unimaginable torture. The moment of her body's discovery is the film's prelude to its extended and dazzling final sequence, the collapse before our and the protagonists' eyes of an entire social order, helpless to prevent such monstrosity.

Bong Joon-Ho's protagonists are not just "imperfect" people (we all are). They are crazed if not downright crazy (most of us are not). His films are about implosion, about people driven not just to anger but madness by two ultimately unbearable forces: Internal, namely the cops' genuine sense of futility about their inability to do their job, their abject failure to catch a killer who will kill again (by the time they figure out his ritual, they know when, but not where and who, he will attack again); and external, namely the society's rapidly changing values that they gradually discover for themselves but never ever fully comprehend. Bong Joon-Ho directs with exquisite subtlety and mastery, alternating between the expanse of an ominous rural landscape (that is rapidly disappearing before our eyes with brilliant shots of an industrial construction site) and tiny alleys and rooms to convey Internal versus External, He was, like Bertolucci, born to be a filmmaker, that is, a Master Conjurer of images in all possible scales.

The typical complaint about not finding a single character in any of Bong Joon-Ho's films that one can "relate to" and "empathize with" is a humanist impulse that Bong Joon-Ho deliberately frustrates. He does not want you to feel sympathetic to any of his characters simply because he does not either. He wants you to see them for who they are, alienated and alienating human beings who represent not just Korean society in transition but all human beings in our Modern Age.

Compared to Bong Joon-Ho, Hitchcock was a committed humanist despite wrong-headed arguments for his being a ground-breaking anti-humanist. Hitchcock always worked within a humanist sensibility that believed in resolution and made everything satisfyingly "right" in the end. "Memories of Murder" offers no closure or happy endings whereas every Hitchcock film, including the very memorable "Psycho", does.

An absolute masterpiece for the ages.

A remarkable, remarkable film based on a real serial killing that took place in the 1980s in the Korean countryside.

The story centers on a couple of crude small town detectives who happily torture suspects into giving confessions -- and who are joined by a more thoughtful detective from Seoul. However, this film doesn't so much provide lessons in forensics or civics than it provides an experience in the agonizing efforts to find and stop a killer.

There's a political message that will manifest only to those intimate with recent Korean history -- I suggest you ignore that. That the characters were constructed to criticize certain political personages kinda ruins it for me.

I'm mostly unfamiliar with the actors -- I recognized only the wonderful Jeon Mi Seon (HOTLINE) as the prostitute -- but they are mostly outstanding.

Don't look for a formula. Don't expect anything cut-and-dried. There's a layer of dark humor but it's mostly down-to-earth with an attempt at honest characterizations. It's deliberately paced and lasts over 2 hours. It's my idea of a great film.

A hotshot young detective from Seoul is enlisted to help out the old school small town detectives when it becomes clear they have a sophisticated serial killer on their hands. The local detectives' old school methods -- unscientific crime scene investigation, gathering of usual suspects and assisting them to remember with threats and torture, planting of evidence -- aren't going to cut it with a sophisticated killer on the loose who threatens repeat violence. On the other hand, the new methods -- gathering evidence, looking for patterns, profiling the killer -- are slow and unable to produce certainty. This is a unique kind of serial killer thriller -- unlike almost any I've seen and much more entertaining: in part for the fact that while the threat of the killer and the perverted nature of his crimes are always on the periphery this is not a film that glorifies the killer, American style. It is about the simple people who work to solve such crimes and the way their efforts affect their lives. In that sense this film is much closer to David Fincher's Zodiac than it is to, say, Silence of the Lambs or Seven or the absurd Saw films and their ilk. Another excellent Korean film, well worth watching.