Review of Memories of Murder (2003) by Jordanlayton — 28 Apr 2020

Bong Joon-ho's second feature is a well-executed, if by-the-book, police procedural. This film would fit right in with a lineup of Zodiac and Se7en. Two clashing detectives investigate South Korea's first documented serial killer.

One detective relies on his gut (and what he's learned about detectives from movies) and one relies on documents and facts. Tale as old as time, amirite? Where Memories of Murder sets itself apart from more bland films in this genre and put itself on the level of Zodiac and Se7en is in its cinematography and character arcs.

There is some quality about a film's opening shot that tells you you're in for a treat. I won't spoil it, but this one has that x quality. The Korean scenery throughout Mom, from fields of crops, to lush mountainous forests, to a strip mine are all shown with a cold offset in color such that their beauty is still apparent, but the reality of the film's plot infects each one.

Reality is something Bong must have aimed for in this film in terms of the violence depicted, as well. Any fight that occurs is so messy and real-feeling that I started to wonder if the actors were actually beating each other just for this movie.

Obviously not the case. It's just extremely sloppy in a realistic way and it works. All that praise said, MoM still does have a lot of the trappings of any film in this genre. Conveniences in both the finding of clues and the timing of finding said clues are apparent and occasionally deimmersifying.

That's my only major complaint. It's no Parasite, but it's definitely better than Snowpiercer. Any fan of crime genre films should seek this out.