Salinui chueok (2003)

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (writer)
Kwang-rim Kim (writer)

Release Date:

2 May 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead...

Plot Keywords:

South Korea | Murder | Serial Killer | Serial Rape | Unsolved Crime

Awards:

14 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kang-ho Song	...	Detective Park Doo-Man
Sang-kyung Kim	...	Detective Seo Tae-Yoon
Roe-ha Kim	...	Detective Cho Yong-koo
Jae-ho Song	...	Sergeant Shin Dong-chul
Hie-bong Byeon	...	Sergeant Koo Hee-bong
Seo-hie Ko	...	Officer Kwon Kwi-ok
No-shik Park	...	Baek, Kwang-ho
Hae-il Park	...	Park, Hyeon-gyu
Jong-ryol Choi	...	Du-man's father
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
In-seon Jeong
Mi-seon Jeon	...	Kwok Seol-yung
Ha-kyeong Kim
Jae-eung Lee
Young-hwa Seo
Ji-ru Sung

Also Known As:

Memories of Murder (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

Canada:129 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Germany:127 min (Filmfest Hamburg) | South Korea:130 min | USA:132 min | Argentina:128 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | France:U | Sweden:15 | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | USA:Unrated

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Trivia:

When Kwang-Ho was investigated in the basement of the police station, the two police officers and a suspect watched a TV program while eating their meals. The title of this program is "Soo Sa Ban Jang" which can be loosely interpreted as "Investigation Squad" in English. It was a famous TV detective drama which was aired for almost twenty years. The opening music was also very popular during that time.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The letter from the FBI about the semen DNA testing is signed by director Clarence M. Kelly. Kelly was director from 1973-1978. William H. Webster was director in 1986.

Quotes:

Rape suspect: But... is wanking a crime?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Biyeolhan geori (2006)

The Slow Development of a Masterpiece

This is probably the best crime thriller I've seen since "Insomnia," and contains the most haunting climax of any serial killer flick since "Seven." But like most films reaching for greatness, this is most admirable for its striking details.

The filmmakers here craft a taut, careful, and delicately strung together motion picture that relishes in its amazing development of mood, place, and character.

First, the mood: Haunting cinematography (rain falling on a small village at night, shadows darting across a thick field of grass, figures lurking in the woods, a masterfully choreographed hot pursuit scene on foot), a poignant music score (aided by the creepy use of a Korean pop song that accompanies each murder), and no-nonsense direction (peppered with fabulous doses of comic relief--how Shakespearan!) keep the film more and more intriguing at each turn and fascinating to watch.

Second, the place: South Korea, circa the late 1980's, and apparently under some sort of militia rule. This is inspired by the true story of Korea's first publicized (and still unsolved) serial killer case. This unique time and place serves as a wonderful respite from the typical American big-city setting of so many other films of this ilk.

Finally, the character development: The small details revealing the haunted souls of the detectives on the case is nothing short of brilliant. Witness the tiny executions of minutae: The cloth one rogue cop wraps around his boot so as not to leave scars when he kick-boxes suspects into submission, the harried chief of police checking his own blood pressure while trying to keep his off-the-cuff detectives in line or fighting to keep headline-starved reporters at bay, the young female officer desperately trying to showcase her abilities in crime solving between serving the chauvinistic detectives cups of fresh coffee, the outsider detective from Seoul's insistence that documents never lie (and the brutal irony at the climax that challenges his entire sense of being), and the main village detective's scathing speech on the difference between American FBI agents and Koren policemen. The beauty is in the details, and this film, like all the great ones, revels in their uncovering.

One flaw is that some might find the film a bit long in the tooth, but this is not to be missed for fans of serial killer thrillers and police procedural movies. For the Korean filmmakers, and the amazing cast...this is their master stroke.