Memories of Murder

Some have called Memories of Murder Korea's answer to LA Confidential. There is some common ground between the films - they look at a time in their nation's history through the eyes of local cops, trying to solve a violent, troubling case with widespread ramifications. Rather than showing the police as a consolidated crime-fighting force, as the perfect all-knowing figures of authority which permeate shows like "CSI," both of these films give a more nuanced, shaded view of law enforcement.

This is a job taken on by ordinary guys, a force made up of a lot of individuals who have all the imperfections and quirks of regular old human beings. That the job occasionally calls on these men and women to rise above the ordinary to perform acts of extraordinary bravery or cruelty is what makes the best cop movies so damn compelling.

And both Memories of Murder and LA Confidential are among the best contemporary cop movies, films that use crime to explore something desperate and terrifying within humanity, rather than shock value (as in most serial killer movies) or cheap thrills (as in most action movies).

Oh, and both movies are also based on actual events.



Memories of Murder opens in 1986 South Korea, when the nation is operating under a military dictatorship. Outside a small village, in a rice paddy by a highway, the body of a woman is found. She had been raped, strangled with her own pantyhose and dragged for nearly a mile, before being left for dead with her panties over her head. It's not a pretty picture.

Two local cops, with no experience in violent homicides, are assigned to the case, joined by an Inspector sent down specifically from Seoul. Much of the conflict of the film is driven by the clash between these local cops, who rely on gossip and folk wisdom for information, and the cutting edge big-city detective, who prefers computer data and the brand-new science of DNA testing. (The DNA test they will eventually employ can only be done at the time in America, so they must wait weeks to get back accurate results).

As the investigation wears on, it becomes clear that neither old-fashioned techniques or high-tech wizardry will be able to solve this crime. The body count continues to rise, various police commanders are fired and the country moves from a state of panic to one of vague anger to one of lethargic disconcern. And we start to realize that the conflict is less about city vs. country life as about the pernicious influence of modernity, which in Korea also seems to mean Westernization.

In this film, as in much recent Eastern and Western cultural philosophy, the serial killer is really the definitive modern criminal. For our modern world, driven by capitalist consumption, to kill for no reason, with no profit and no motive, represents the ultimate taboo. The police cannot find the serial killer because in the film because they fundamentally can't understand him. They constantly try to come up with suspects who represent reasonable killers - a retarded boy who might not know any better, a pervert who masturbates in the woods, a cold-eyed drifter. But none of these suspects pan out (although they attempt to beat each one into confessing). It's almost as if those solutions would make too much sense. The whole point of the killing is to be senseless.

This is a pretty amazing film. Stylistically, it borrows greatly from notable American serial killer movies, particularly David Fincher's Seven. At one point, director Joon-ho Bong directly quotes Seven, positioning his characters just like a memorable frame with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, and aping some dialogue. ("Have you ever seen anything like this before?" "No.")

I'm not sure if this is intentional, that the film's thematic ideas about the Westernizing and economic revolution of Korea during the 1980's are reflected in the movie's visual "quoting" of other serial killer movies, but it does give the film a feeling of familiarity. This is certainly not a bad thing, and the movie is so fresh with ideas and vitality that it's hard to knock it's considerable style and grace. Memories of Murder is a fine example of a fading genre, a police procedural that doesn't feel rote or silly, and that doesn't rely on a twist ending or a slick gimmick to entertain.

Another first-rate film from our friends on the Korean peninsula.