‘I only beat you up because I care about you...’
The runaway success of Parasite has thrust director Bong Joon-Ho firmly into the limelight. Naturally, this means that interest in his previous work has skyrocketed. Whilst I enjoyed Okja and I can thoroughly recommend the underseen Snowpiercer, Memories of Murder is Joon Ho’s other masterpiece…
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit (full disclosure – I stole this plot description from IMDB because I didn’t write one at the time of watching the film and now many weeks later I can’t remember).
Taking its cues from Kurosawa but also David Fincher and Hong Kong gangster movies, Memories of Murder crafts a haunting and compelling tale from what is a fairly simple plot. An out-of-touch and corrupt police department. A new broom looking to sweep away the deadwood. A psychopathic killer with a penchant for women’s underwear. This is all stuff we have seen before. What sets Memories of Murder apart from its peers are the performances and the cinematography. Every shot of Memories of Murder is dripping in menace whilst still being aesthetically hypnotic.
The other thing that Memories of Murder does is create a lived-in world for its characters to inhabit. I believe this town and this police department, and this authenticity ensures that the vicious crimes really are horrific. Having said that, the violence is never gratuitous or celebrated, rather it feeds into the film’s grim tapestry along with the dark colour scheme and the constant rainfall (a quirk that Memories of Murder shares with Se7en).
A two-hour-plus South Korean crime procedural may seem difficult going for some, but I would urge you to cast aside your misgivings and give yourself to Memories of Murder. It is a film that sinks its teeth in and refuses to let go.