Some years ago Quentin Tarantino shared his list of his 20 favorite movies since 1992, the year he started directing. There were three Korean movies on his list: The Host, Joint Security Area and Memories of Murder. Memories of Murder is about a police investigation into a number of serial killings that took place between 1986 and 1991 and is based on real events.
De film starts with the first murder and shows that the techniques which were used to investigate weren’t sufficient to even get close to finding the killer. Park Doo-Man (Song Kang-ho (The Good, The Bad, The Weird)) is the lead detective on the case. He’s proud of the fact that he’s able to remember a lot of faces, but it doesn’t take long before you realize that he’s not very good at his work. The crime scene isn’t properly closed of and a lot of evidence is lost because of it. South Korea didn’t have any DNA research machines and any evidence needed to be sent abroad. When the investigation runs into problems detective Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) from Seoul is sent, who has a lot more experience and knows how to approach the case with more structure. Together with Park Doo-Man he arrests a lot of suspects, but the two don’t get along very well as they approach their job differently.
Memories of Murder is a very suspenseful police investigation thriller which you can almost compare to something like Zodiac. The time period in which this movie has been brought to life by showing things like the regular drills that were done to prepare for an attack by North Korea.
The acting is exquisite and even though the movie is very serious, it does have its funny moments, like the way in which Park Doo-Man does his job or the way in which another detective, who doesn’t mind using violence, just throws his whole body onto a suspect.
Just like Zodiac, Memories of Murder is a very good thriller with lots of suspense. If you are a fan of the genre, it should be in your top 5.
The story is very good and the characters are very compelling. After Memories of Murder director Joon-ho Bong has shown that he’s good at his job, as he also directed The Host and Mother. So it’s a good idea to keep an eye open for his other films.
Score: 7 (but if you liked Zodiac or are a fan of the genre, you can add 2 points)
Wow, if Tarantino had it down in his top 20, it has to be cool. Plus I liked Zodiac so I really should try and see this one. Great review.
Although I don’t always understand Tarantino’s choices for some movies, I can understand why he chose this.
@Nostra yeah, not always but he has proven to be a master of film time and time again and you can almost take his word as gospel now.
Exactly, it’s also the reason I’m still planning to watch The Host. It’s a movie I normally wouldn’t watch, but will give a chance since he named it.
@Nostra Nice one, I look forward to a review.
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