Review of Memories of Murder (2003) by Ray H — 29 Jul 2014
This is a very slight, Korean murder mystery. It is based upon an actual serial rape and murder case set in rural South Korea. It was mildly entertaining. It reminded me of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. We have three bumbling local cops trying to solve several rape/murders of beautiful young women. A big-city detective is sent from Seoul to help out. The locals are not impressed; and make life difficult for him.
The two local detectives try to beat confessions out of the most handy suspects. They are not interested in investigating the crimes. One is older and a little brighter. The younger one is a blunt object; and short in the thinking department. Many of their scenes have a comedic element because they are so bumbling and ineffective. The outsider detective, Seo, begins to track the real killer.
We never see the killer clearly as he hunts his victims. We never see the crimes going down. The crime scenes are surprisingly bland. Korean action/mystery movies tend to be very graphic and bloody; not so here.
As more and more victims are murdered, Seo begins to crack. He eventually loses his professional composure. The scene is very well done.
The ending is ambiguous and somewhat unsatisfying.
It was an OK trip to the flics.
This review of Memories of Murder (2003) was written by Ray H on 29 Jul 2014.
Memories of Murder has generally received very positive reviews.
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