Review of Memories of Murder (2003) by Jason Y — 16 Jul 2005

[font=Century Gothic]"Memories of Murder" starts out in 1986 in rural Korea where two women have been raped and murdered. Two local detectives are going through a long list of possible suspects. Detective Suh arrives from Seoul to help.(And his arrival scene is one of the better in the film.) The local detectives come up with an unlikely suspect whereas Suh deducts that there must be another body somewhere.[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]"Memories of Murder" is an intelligent and excellent mystery. The movie serves as a commentary on the Korean police and is very interested in their procedures as they attempt to solve the murders. The police are pictured as just as likely to force confessions through brutal interrogations as to conduct actual investigations and seem to spend as much time putting down protests as anything else. The local police are ill-trained and undereducated and seem to have gotten their inspriation from watching old TV shows. This film also has something to say about sexism in Korea, too. All of the vicitims are women and one of the policewomen is constantly saddled with lesser tasks, even though she may be more competent than her male counterparts.[/font].