Rent Memories of Murder on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Bong Joon Ho, Sung-bo Shim, Kwang-rim Kim (play)
Directed by: Bong Joon Ho
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha
Rated: NR [R]
Watch the trailer
Plot
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.
Verdict
This provides an answer to why more cases aren't solved. A murder in a small town is investigated by police that have never had to deal with something so serious. They don't know what they're doing and it shows, but the seriousness of the crime changes them. Unfortunately that doesn't resolve the case. This is a police movie where the crime isn't solved at the end. It's a look at the impact the investigation has on the officers. Even at the end, we see that it's a case one of them couldn't let go.
Watch It.
Review
This was inspired by a real police investigation during the late 80s. The actual culprit wasn't caught until 2019.
This runs counter to the typical American movie. I expect police to be competent, even super stars. This opens with a cop that seems like he has no idea how to secure a crime scene. Then I began to wonder if this is a small town that doesn't see much violent crime. This is a murder scene where everyone is trampling the scene, and they're losing evidence.
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| Song Kang-ho, Kim Roi-ha play Park, Cho |
Park (Song Kang-ho) is the lead detective woefully out of his depth. After seeing how he runs a crime scene, he has the temerity to state he can look a suspect in the eye and determine their guilt. Not long after he misidentifies Seo (Kim Sang-kyung) who turns out to be a cop sent to assist Park and Cho (Kim Roi-ha). While Park and Cho get a confession, it's coerced. How can they solve a murder when they don't care? They want to solve a murder, not find a killer. They have no clue; no ideas nor leads. Their best honed skill is beating up suspects.
They don't follow clues, and their best leads happen almost by accident. That or they're provided by others. They fail to stop another attack which leads to being mocked by locals. As the audience, we wonder if we've seen the killer. It's possible the cops encountered him without realizing it.
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| Song Kang-ho plays Park |
Years later Park is haunted by this case he left unfinished despite everything he and his coworkers did or didn't do. He feels guilty for the last murder, having met the victim and failing to prevent the crime. While this time jumps, it makes us think this case caused Park to leave the police. The ending concludes that the killer was ordinary, that it could be anyone.
I wondered if the final shot was a tie back to Park's claim that he can look someone in the eye and determine guilt. It didn't work for him during the case and this must be a reference of his failure. It could also imply that since the killer wasn't caught he's lurking in the audience and Park is still looking.
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