Memories of Murder

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.

After two women are found dead in a rural community, a detective arrives from the big city to help out. Things quickly mushroom with the discovery of more bodies, more suspects and no end in sight.

Whether you like police films or not you should see this movie about the real hunt for Korea's first known serial killer simply because its a great movie. This is a movie that alters your expectations and changes your view of things. Its impossible to guess whats going to happen simply because the twists and turns are so unexpected. At times this is a funny funny movie, especially if you like shows like Law and Order or CSI since what we take for granted in those shows is stood on its head. At other times this is a very taut thriller and you become as desperate as the police in needing to put an end to the madness.

On top of all of this is a picture of Korea in 1986, a place with political unrest and civil defense drills that for me at least makes it seem like something out of the 1950's.

This is brilliant brilliant film-making.

I've given the film an 8 out of 10, even though it probably deserves to be higher, simply because some 12 hours after seeing the film, I'm still pondering what I thought of it, how good is it? At least an 8. I'm sure a second and third and fourth viewings will change my mind.

Yea its that good

I first saw this more than a decade ago n loved it.

Revisited it recently.

This one is truly one of the best crime drama.

I feel Zodiac, True Detective S1 n the recent The Little Things borrowed few stuff from this movie.

After the discovery of two dead bodies in a small village, a detective n his partner decides to question a mentally handicapped young man because the man used to follow one of the victims around town but their forced confessions n interrogation techniques are questioned when a detective from a city volunteers to assist them.

Apart from being a very engaging movie, this one has sufficient suspense n tons of atmosphere.

Another good aspect is the character development.

This movie amazingly showcases the faulty police interrogation techniques, the lack of securing the crime scene, evidence being improperly collected, non availability of extra police personnel, the non-existent forensic technology n the superstitious beliefs.

The isolated rural landscape where the killings take place is as much a character in the movie.

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.

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.