They don't like each other one bit but they're gonna have to work together if they want to have any hope of capturing a killer. Though it's a great detective yarn in the mold of Se7en or Zodiac, Memories of Murder certainly rings true as a Bong Joon-ho movie in a number of respects. The thoughtful elements of social commentary, for one thing, totally feels akin to what you'd find in later Joon-ho efforts like Snowpiecer or Okja. In the specific case of Memories of Murder, the commentary is aimed at abusive behavior of law enforcement officers and/or detective. Park Doo-man and his partner Cho Yong-koo (Kim Roi-ha) are well-known both in their office and in the general public for the way they beat up suspects in custody as they try to get confessions out of people they deem suspicious rather than actually track down answers.
Their methods end up targeting the most marginalized members of the local community, particularly a mentally handicapped boy named Baek Kwang-ho (Park No-shik) who is tormented by the authorities through methods like being forced to dig his own grave. Not only are these methods shown to be fruitless in actually tracking down the killer, but they usually end up backfiring big time on the abusive powers of authority, particularly in a scene where Cho Yong-koo goes into a fit of rage at a public eatery that ends with him getting a rusty nail jammed into a foot he soon has to have amputated. Bong Joon-ho and Shim Sung-bo's screenplay is making it clear that abuse of power from powerful individuals is never a mean that can be justified, it's something that always ends in tragedy.
Their writing makes for a fascinating exploration of how abusive figures of authority create ripple effects of turmoil in their communities and also just a darn good detective yarn whose every twist and turn keeps you compelled as to what's happening on-screen. Part of that engrossing nature comes from the phenomenal visual sensibilities of the production, Bong Joon-ho's sense of staging and blocking in Memories of Murder is truly remarkable. The way characters are arranged in scenes like a bunch of people huddled together in a small wooden room during a storm or when four main characters are interrogating a primary murder suspect speak volumes about who they are as individuals and their relationships with one another. It's always amazing to see so much information conveyed in such a subtle visual manner.
Another sensational visual facet of Memories of Murder is how cinematographer Kim Hyung-Koo and Bong Joon-ho also opt for extended long takes that are sometimes used to make tension in a scene extra powerful and other times used to make the chaotic ineptitude of the main characters apparent. The latter quality is especially useful in the first act, like an elongated take when Park Doo-man first arrives to a muddy murder scene and we follow him around trying to get crucial information all while various investigators and officers slip around in the mud in the background. Another intricately organized extended single take of law enforcement officers trying to get Baek Kwang-ho away from a crowd after Baek's father begins to call out the corruption of these officers is another sterling example of how Memories of Murder is able to capture incompetence in the span of just one frame.
All of the myriad of exceptional visual and writing qualities of Memories of Murder add up over time to make something I just couldn't tear myself away from, especially as it becomes clear that a key part of the story is following Seo Tae-yoon's growing disillusionment with being unable to pin down a suspect for the crime. That climactic sequence where he corners a likely suspect on the train tracks in the rain, oh my God, it's so good. It's just a perfect example of tension-packed cinema in every respect from Tae-yoon's internally tortured performance to the masterful ways its shot to the timing of every cut. Once it's over, you're left with a gut-punch over seeing how morally corrupted the previously clean-cut Tae-yoon has become. I honestly just wanted to watch Memories of Murder again the moment it was over just so I could fully appreciate this character descent all the more!
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