Memories Of Murder 4K 2003

If we try to remember the best Asian films of the first decade of the XXI century, the following titles immediately come to mind: "Oldboy", "Double Jeopardy", "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring Again", "Love Mood". and Spring Again, Love Mood. And few will remember such a wonderful tape as "Memories of Murder", which, unlike the above masterpieces did not have such success with the public and did not collect the same number of festival awards. However, true connoisseurs of cinema, closely following the world cinema, the picture of Joon-ho Bong firmly occupies a place among the most favorite films. And it is not surprising: "Memories" is truly a masterpiece by all parameters - powerful, thought-out to the smallest detail script, confident direction, touching music, heartwarming, magnificent acting.

Even on the famous imdb site, the picture constantly appears among the 50 best films of the 2000s, plus all firmly holds its position in the ranking of the best detectives of all time. The detective basis is one of the strongest sides of this movie, and the fact that it is based on real events, makes us emphasize it even more.

The action of the picture begins in 1986 in a small South Korean town, on the outskirts of which two corpses are found. The murders were committed with an interval of four days at a distance of one kilometer from each other. Both victims, young girls, were first raped and then murdered. They were killed in the same twisted way, leading the locals to believe that the town has a maniac. The investigation is led by Inspector Park and his civilian assistant Joo. Both are known for their unconstructive methods of work, based on beating and intimidating suspects. They don't change their ways when they apprehend a local fool whose footprint was found at the crime scene. In the meantime, senior officer Su arrives from Seoul to help, who, not unlike the local police, conducts the investigation based primarily on facts and evidence. But even he can't do anything about the situation - the police keep finding more and more corpses. However, the new murders allow the police to reveal one very interesting parallel: all the girls were killed at night, when it was raining heavily, they were all wearing red clothes, and the local radio at that moment was playing the song "Sad Letter", ordered by a certain "young lonely man"....

The first thing that catches the eye when watching the movie is its incredible authenticity. The authors of the picture were not afraid to portray the officers of the law as they really are: the cops in this movie fight among themselves, light up at discos, get drunk, vomit right in the frame, beat suspects, show obscene gestures to children. At first it causes a slight dislike, but by the middle of the picture you are already on their side and wish these guys to find the killer as soon as possible, so that the chain of brutal crimes would be completed. The vitality is what adorns this picture and makes it unique. In addition, the movie is stunningly beautifully shot - there seems to be nothing special in it in terms of camerawork, but you can't take your eyes off it. Vast green fields, overcast weather, wind mixed with rain - all this evokes some strange sentimental feelings in your soul and makes you let this movie pass through you.

Despite the fact that the movie is a South Korean production, it is clearly a curtsy in the direction of classic American detectives, such as "Midnight Heat", "Silence of the Lambs", "Seven", "Kissing Girls". Mostly it concerns a competently written storyline based on the capture of a serial killer maniac and the personal drama of those who lead the investigation. But this fact, somewhat does not diminish the merit of the movie, but only proves that not only Hollywood professionals can shoot high-quality detective thrillers. The audience at the San Sebastian and Tokyo film festivals were apparently among the few who appreciated Joon-ho Bong's film, awarding it honorable mentions as "the best Asian film of 2003". To me, it's the best Asian movie of the past decade. Along with Oldboy, of course.