SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
THIS MOTION PICTURE IS OFFICIALLY AN AFFILIATE OF THE FILMMAKING PARAGONS.
Memories of Murder is one of 21st century's best homicide thrillers ever made, if not the best homicide thriller ever made! The plot follows a serial killer on rampage raping and taking the lives innocent women in a small Korean town. As the case falls into the hands of a group of incompetent policemen whose only goal is to finish their job as quick as possible, the film is outstandingly hilarious from the jumpstart! Our protagonist named Park (Song Kang-ho) is one of them and he resorts to all sorts of methodology to force-end the case, be it luring trained confessions out of innocent civilians, forging re-enactments, planting fake evidences or seeking advice from shamans and fortune tellers based on his own superstitions, which brings the roof down with laughter! His ill-tempered partner-in-crime Cho (Kim Roi-ha) is worse than him at handling these cases, with only impulsive violence being the end result.
But this entire gig doesn't last long when a serious and committed senior officer Seo (Kim Sang-kyung) enters the picture. The stark contrast between the protagonist and him brews some great conflicts and a character arc for Park! Hereon, slowly but surely, the seriousness grows in a smooth progressive manner in terms of plot, characters and tone. And the investigation path the main characters pursue is nothing short of exhilarating entertainment! They are constantly presented with new evidence only to fail at the outcome of it, but only through that they receive another piece of clue for them to move forward with the case! Red dress, rainy day and specific song request on the radio are the instances! This exact alternation between positive and negative beats in the storytelling is what renders Memories of Murder a near-perfect script!
Bong Joon-ho's blocking, staging, framing and composition is complete perfection here! The scenes written are simple and interesting with clear and concise character motivations! Construction site pursuit, paddy field ambush, Park mistaking Seo for the rapist, interview with ex-victim, kid imitating cop, Baek's (Park No-shik) description cracked to be an observation instead of a confession, unknown adult male masturbating at the corpse spot, sneakers consolation to finally nailing the criminal based on all the evidences they have are downright exciting events to simmer in! As the murderer breaks pattern by claiming the life of a small kid, it's undeniably gone too far at this point. The fact that we alongside the primary characters know exactly who the culprit is but unable to prove it due to the lack of tech and poor quality semen identity results back in those days render it tenfold frustrating!
The cinematography is steady and classic. With apt colours, not only it gives you the feeling of watching old tape records but it's also dark, grimy, peculiar and rural at the same time! The storytelling has a mythical and legend-like essence to it, with the crying woman on the hill and secluded outhouse oozing a mysterious aura! Furthermore, the feature exhibits a weird cosy mood that you'd normally get during rainy evenings. The fact that the story rolls out in a small village cum town bolsters that feel even more and the serene score simply adds on to that effect! Cadaver prosthetics are amazing and the interior designing for Park's dwelling tells you everything you need to know about the main character!