Film: Memories of Murder
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Country: South Korea
Released: May 2003
Runtime: 131 minutes
Genre: Crime Drama
Studio: Sidus, CJ Entertainment
Influenced: Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, Jordan Peele, Chloé Zhao, Ari Aster
A sociology student and graduate of the Korean Academy of Film Arts, Bong Joon-Ho initially started his career working in the film industry as an assistant director, helping him gain practical experience of the filmmaking process. He made his directorial debut with dark comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), a film that showcased his unique storytelling style. Bong then gained widespread recognition and critical acclaim with his second feature, Memories of Murder, based on the real-life Hwaseong serial murders that occurred between 1986 and 1991. Bong initially intended to make a documentary about the Hwaseong serial killings, but later changed tack and instead made a fictionalised account. The film's title, Memories of Murder, reflects not only the crime but also the lasting impact the killings had on the characters and the community, with Bong drawing on the analytical tools of his sociological education to deconstruct and comment on the disturbing cultural phenomenon of serial killers.
The story revolves around two detectives, Park Doo-Man (Song Kang-Ho) and Seo Tae-Yoon (Kim Sang-Kyung), tasked with investigating multiple murders in a small, rural town in Gyeonggi Province. They are portrayed as contrasting characters; one a local cop who relies on intuition and intimidation (Park), and the other a highly-trained officer from the big city of Seoul who relies on methodical investigation (Seo). Their first meeting and the misunderstanding involved is darkly comic, and this black comedy would become a hallmark of Bong's cinema. Memories of Murder is also very graphic at times, notably in the scene where the detectives inspect the body of the third victim, which is found in a field following careful investigative work by Seo. Details like the coroner showing us how different parts of the body decompose at different rates reveal the extensive research that went into the film. While writing the screenplay with Shim Sung-Bo, based on Kim Kwang-Rim's book about the murders, Come to See Me, Bong studied the case files himself and conducted interviews with Detective Kim Sang-Kyung, who was one of the investigators involved in the case.
Without the charisma of Song Kang-Ho, I don’t think the film would work so well. His character gets drunk in a karaoke bar and berates Seo for his "brainy", FBI-style approach to detective work that he says doesn’t work in a small country like South Korea. In this way, the film is a satire of the complacency and laxity at an administrative level in the country, which helped facilitate the serial killer evading justice. As the plot develops, the case becomes more complicated and frustrating for the detective as they struggle to find the elusive killer. As the years go by, the case remains unsolved, haunting the investigators and impacting their lives in profound ways. The tension is palpable, with Bong skilfully building suspense throughout the movie, up to an intense and emotional climactic scene by the entrance to a railway tunnel. Kim Hyung-Koo's cinematography is notable for its atmospheric lighting, especially in the nighttime scenes, and the film's colour palette is often muted, emphasising earthy tones and greys. These gloomy colours also serve as a contrast to the killer's favourite colour, red.
While not a huge box office success upon its initial release, Memories of Murder received critical acclaim and won several awards, including Best Film at the Grand Bell Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards. Bong Joon-Ho also won the Best Director award at the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and the film also gained cult status and international recognition, paving the way for Bong's successful career in Hollywood. Memories of Murder stands out in the crime genre for its exploration of the psychological toll of the investigation on the detectives and the impact of the unsolved case on the community. The film also showcased Bong's ability to blend genres, notably dark comedy and crime drama, while also exploring complex characters and tackling issues of social inequality. The director's international breakthrough came with films like The Host (2006) and Snowpiercer (2013), which reached audiences outside of South Korea, before the monumental success of his 2019 movie, Parasite. The film not only achieved historic success at Cannes, winning the Palme d'Or, it also became the first South Korean film to win the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards in 2020.
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