Year: 2003 Rated R Genre: Based on True Story, Crime, Dark Comedy, Detective, Murder Mystery, Thriller Language: Korean Runtime: 2:11:00 Director: 봉준호 (Bong Joon-ho) ★ Main Cast: 송강호(Song Kang-ho) ★, 김상경 (Kim Sang-kyung), 김뢰하 (Kim Roi-ha), 송재호 (Song Jae-ho), 고서희 (Go Seo-hee), 박해일 (Park Hae-il), 박노식 (Park No-shik), 전미선 (Jeon Mi-seon), 변희봉 (Byun Hee-bong)
Notable Mention: Park Hae-il and the Ending
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Watching Memories of Murder is like edging. You never get to climax. Every scene, dialogue gets you almost there, but never fully there. My favorite scene is the ending. It's ambiguous, uncomfortable. It reignites a fire in the viewer, in me. Maybe this time, they will catch the killer. But of course, the film ends. Because Memories of Murder does not allow you that satisfaction. I didn't mean that. The films's ending is perfect. To restart the investigation, to drag on the film any longer would've ruined the film. Like I said earlier, the ending is my favorite.
I saw Zodiac shortly after I watched Memories of Murder. The two films are similar. Memories of Murder was based on the 1980s Hwaseong serial murders, while Zodiac was based the 1960s Zodiac serial murders. The Hwaseong serial murders were solved. The killer was caught. The Zodiac case remains unsolved till this day. While the Hwaseong serial murders were solved, Memories of Murder ended without catching the killer. Both films ended without catching the killer.
Memories of Murder was a far more entertaining film than Zodiac. Zodiac followed recorded events too closely. As for Memories of Murder, the Hwaseong serial murders were... an inspiration. The writers for Memories of Murder took creative liberty with the timeline and the dialogues to allow for quicker pacing and the film's dark comedy elements.
I read online, someone said Zodiac was a more chilling film than Memories of Murder because in real life, the Zodiac killer was never uncovered. I'll give you that the case may be more unsettling. Someone got away with multiple murders, even with survivors! The thought that this serial killer may still be at large is fear-inducing. But for me, the film didn't deliver that malaise. Memories of Murder did. Zodiac ended with one of the survivors identifying his assailant. That was closure enough for me, as an audience. Bong Joon-ho, on the other hand, did not grant his viewers the pleasure of closure. At the film's end, he lit a late fire. A girl was seen telling a retired detective about a man she recently saw. The detective asked about the man, possibly thinking in his head that this man may be the wanted killer. The film then ended. Once again, they're close to catching the killer. But we don't know for sure if the characters in the film succeeded, because the film ended. That's worrying. That's unsettling.
Bong Joon-ho saved Park Hae-il, the best, for last. Park Hae-il's first appearance, that head turn, is another one of my favorite scenes from the film. The screen shows the detectives. They're looking across the room, at someone. The screen then shows a man sitting in front of a desk. That's the killer. We're finally about to see the killer's face. The slight pause before Park Hae-il turned his head added to the film's suspense. Park Hae-il turned his head toward the camera. Oh my God, it's him. Park Hae-il did not have a ton of screen time. He wasn't flashy. But something about that muted performance worked for that character.
