Parasite (2019) was a good movie, but Memories of Murder is Bong Joon-hos’ masterpiece.
A serial killer is terrorizing a small village, and we follow some incompetent cops who are trying to find and stop the serial killer.
Memories of Murder is based on true events that took place in the 80s. We are in a small village in South Korea where a serial killer has his hunting grounds. He rapes and kills his victims, and it always happens when it rains and when a particular song is played on the radio. The cops in the small village aren’t exactly the smartest, so they have to get help from the city. They send a cop who doesn’t believe what he sees when the local cops interrogate suspects and hear their wild theories.
Many decades later, it turns out that the police have found out who the serial killer is. It took its time, but they found out who was behind the murders in 2019. The man was already serving a prison sentence after raping and murdering his sister-in-law. Although it’s good for everyone, some of the mystery surrounding the movie and the case disappears. But it’s a brilliant movie anyway, and Bong Joon-ho’s great masterpiece! This is his best movie without a question! Don’t talk back, just accept it! Or I will find you and hurt you!
Memories of Murder is for me the best serial killer movie I’ve ever seen. We find a big dose of black comedy here. You can’t help but laugh at these characters and some of the situations they end up in. Everyone loves the wild cop who puts on shoe protection so he doesn’t damage his new boots when he is beating up suspects. What a wonderful character! And I also love the retarded man.
The cops in the village are abusing their power when they force confessions out of the suspects. Then a cop from the big city shows up who doesn’t believe what he’s seeing and experiencing. So the movie also offers a bit of history regarding South Korea’s darker period.
I always get goosebumps when we see a scene at the very end where the former cop comes back to a crime scene many years later and meets a child. Anyone who has seen the movie knows what scene I mean. It’s so haunting and creepy!
It’s also interesting to see the transformation of the cop from the big city who seems like a calm man. But he gets more desperate towards the end of the movie, and suddenly the character played by Song Kang-ho becomes the more reasonable character. He has been an idiot right up to this point. But a wonderful and charming idiot!
With Memories of Murder, Bong Joon-ho has combined black comedy with dark drama, and that’s what makes Memories of Murder so special and unforgettable. The score is gorgeous, and it creates a special atmosphere that I will always remember. I can guarantee that you have never seen a serial killer movie like Memories of Murder!
If you haven’t seen Memories of Murder, watch it now! This is a masterpiece of the highest class.