#Memories of a murderer serial#

In the wake of the chase, police officers terrorize citizens with their own kind of brutality, exhibited through cruel interrogation mechanisms and a general apathy towards people, both innocent and suspected.

#Memories of a murderer serial#

This violence is not uniquely limited towards the serial killings.

More frequently than not, Bong argues, ordinary people are guilty of perpetuating cycles of exceptional violence. What happens when ordinary people face unordinary phenomena? He turns towards the camera, his tearing eyes glazed in both craze and clarity.Īs the cast credits scroll, mourning voices swell against an equally sorrowful instrumental track: Park’s eyes dart back and forth it is impossible to discern whether he has encountered epiphany or is further receding into confusion. The detective quickly realizes that it was the killer. A schoolgirl approaches, explaining how she previously saw another man sitting exactly where Park was sitting. An intensely disillusioned Detective Park, grown more mentally than physically exhausted by the throes of the killings, sits by the ditch where the first victim’s corpse was found. “Memories of Murder” concludes in the same field that it began. The aftermath of violence is carefully chronicled by the camera lens. This long shadow of violence looms over “Memories of Murder.” Each scene evokes whispers of a psychological darkness, a mental obscurity that persists, even prospers, throughout the movie’s lifetime. Though the alleged culprit was identified in 2019, the decades-long search following the tragedies brought about nationwide pain and paranoia. In doing so, Bong successfully recreates a disruptive moment in Korean history - the unsuccessful chase for the nation’s first documented serial killer. In “Memories of Murder,” the camera is intentional in capturing the country’s distinct cultural fabric.

Why plant this seed of sadness so early? In a film focusing on the grisly murders of numerous female residents of the Gyeonggi Province, why does Bong introduce such intense nostalgia even before the first word is uttered on-screen? The frame is drowned in sunlight, and a mournful melody begins to play. The boy catches it between his fingers and slowly rises. The film’s first scene reveals a young boy crouched in an open field, gazing intently at a grasshopper on a stalk of wheat. The leading actor, Song Kang-ho, continued his partnership with Bong in later projects such as “The Host,” “Snowpiercer,” and “Parasite.” The two remain heartwarmingly close to this day, evidenced by Bong’s inviting Song to the stage in his Palme d’Or acceptance speech.įollowing its sensational Oscars victory, “Parasite” did more than simply increase its own public interest it motivated cinephiles from across the globe to reappraise Bong Joon-ho’s previous films, including “Mother,” “Okja,” “Barking Dogs Never Bite,” and “Memories of Murder,” the latter of which will be rereleased in cinemas in October (or on Oct. Though the auteur’s productions have recently cast a familiar Hollywood face (Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton in “Snowpiercer,” Jake Gyllenhaal and Lily Collins in “Okja”), Bong’s first few films were mostly domestic, and “Memories of Murder” stars an all-Korean cast. It is a simple inquiry with a complex answer, certainly not a question Detective Park (Song Kang-ho) would have entertained at the onset of “Memories of Murder,” Bong Joon-ho’s breakout film. What does it mean to be an ordinary person?