313. Memories Of Murder; movie review

 

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MEMORIES OF MURDER

Cert 15

131 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong gory images, references to sexual violence, language, sex references

It seems like ten years rather than ten months since Bong Joon Ho's Parasite won four Oscars.

The Korean is now feted as one of the world's great directors but hands up, who could honestly say they had heard of him at the time?

Well, I hadn't so I have been pleased to catch up on some of the classics of a back catalogue which have the same quirky intensity as his academy award winner.

Memories Of Murder is based on the true story of the hunt for a serial rapist and murderer who terrorised a small province of South Korea in the 1980s.

It follows the investigation of three very different and desperate detectives as they pick up clues which they hope will lead them to the killer.

Those who have watched Parasite will pick up familiar traits of the director because, while there are vicious killings, there is also a laugh-out-loud dark comedy.

It is also another clear indicator that he is obsessed with the rain. Actors who star in a Bong Joon Ho film certainly know they are going to get wet.

One of his favourite collaborators Song Kang-ho stars as the local detective who initially leads the hunt for a killer after a young woman's body is found in a drain.

He is an old-fashioned and under-resourced cop whose sidekick (Kim Roi-ha) attempts to beat confessions out of suspects.

Oh, and there are many of them - usually arrested out of desperation by a team who are more likely to fall over their own shoelaces than secure a just conviction.

He is resentful of a young detective (Kim Sang-kyung) from Seoul who is brought on to the case with much more modern ideas.

However, it becomes obvious that they will need inspiration or a giant slice of luck to catch their man.

Memories of Murder is violent, gripping and funny. Its twists often take us down dead-ends and when there is progress with the investigation, it is often more through luck than judgment.

But whatever their foibles, the audience is still on the side of the cops in trying to track the callous killer.

And, all the time, the rain continues to lash down.

It is a Bong Joon Ho classic and well worth watching.

Reasons to watch: Absorbing and quirky thriller

Reasons to avoid: Tricky to follow in its early stages

Laughs: Two 

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? After more than 30 years of a case gone cold, South Korean police believe they have identified the real-life killer who inspired Memories Of Murder.  DNA sent to the National Forensic Service was a match for material found on the underwear of one of the ten victims. It is from a man who is serving a prison sentence for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law in 1994.

The final word. Bong Joon Ho: (This) case is an intertwined web of tragedy and black comedy—the eerie comedy that blooms within the air during the most absurd of times. The film is an uncanny, yet natural, mixture of horror and comedy because we were truly living in such times.

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