Classic Review: Memories of Murder (2003)

Bong Joon Ho was at it long before 2019’s multiple Oscar-winning Parasite. Memories of Murder was his second feature film and suffice it to say that it is a much different film than Parasite but at the end of the day, it is very much a Bong film. Though this procedural crime drama may not be as flashy as its Hollywood counterparts, its methodical approach, which won’t be for everyone, plants seeds that result in a compelling, edge-of-your-seat viewing experience that still holds up very well today. The writing and directing along with its score and cinematography all work together to create an impressively haunting atmosphere that envelops the proceedings. If anything, it may be a touch too long, clocking in at just over 2 hours, however, that is merely a minor quibble. Meanwhile, the film also marks Bong’s first collaboration with his muse Kang-ho Song who had since appeared in The Host, Snowpiercer, and of course Parasite.

Memories of Murder takes place in 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, South Korea where a second young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. On the case were detectives Park Doo-Man (Song) and Cho Yong-koo (Roe-ha Kim) and their questionable methods (arguably being played off as comedy). Despite the lack of results and an overall dysfunctional police department, they were confident in their methods, brutalizing and/or torturing suspects in order to solve the case. However, the tides began to turn after the arrival of a Seoul detective named Seo Tae-Yoon (Sang-kyung Kim) who arrived to volunteer to help with the case. The contrast between each set of detectives was fairly evident right away as the intelligent and procedural detective’s methods often clashed with the others, especially Park, mostly after calling out the others on their ineffective methods and subsequent mistakes. The tables started to turn in Seo’s favor after the discovery of a third body.

One of the best part of Memories of Murder was the subtle character development over the course of the film. It was clear that the others would eventually be more open to Seo’s methods as he sparked the others in the right direction whether they were ready to admit it to themselves or not. There was certainly an adjustment period as the two sides still did their own thing, using their own methods, until they inevitably converged once the evidence was hard to deny. That being said, evidence was still hard to come by and whatever could be found seemed convincing but was only ever circumstantial at best so it was hard to know the truth and pin the crimes on any one suspect. Nevertheless, the situation and the growing body count made things become increasingly heated among the detectives and the police as they were driven by pure emotion. This emotion drove the evolution of these characters in a compelling way, planting seeds early on with their resulting arcs taking them in complex directions with the end being some truly powerful stuff. In the end, the slow burn that was the case and its many twists and turns as well as the evolving dynamic between the detectives was a testament to the strong writing.

Though strong writing needs strong performances to bring those words to the screen and that was definitely the case with Memories of Murder. Song and Sang-kyung Kim were the standouts as detectives Park Doo-Man and Seo Tae-Yoon respectively. Song brings plenty of energy and presence to a role that was much more than a goofy detective, creating a surprisingly deep character with a complex and nuanced performance. Sang-kyung Kim may have played it more straight than Song but Seo was still a compelling character to watch and one whose motivation was easy to connect to on an emotional level. He gets put through the ringer here as his tough journey unravels plenty of levels of pain with the end being something that was heartbreaking to watch.

Overall, Memories of Murder is another excellent Bong hit and a film that still holds up 17 years later.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.