Memories of Murder

Bong Joon-Ho is a filmmaking master! Memories of Murder is one of the best true detective films I’ve ever seen. His movies follow the conventions of great storytelling (protagonist, desire, conflict, obstacles, antagonist, etc) but they’re unique in so many ways. For example how many detective movies have you seen where the detective drop kicks people? Yeah there’s drop kicks here. Lots of them. 

The movie begins in a field with a grisly murder. From there it takes off on a chase to track down the killer. Three detectives unite: one methodical, one mystical, and one brutal. The methodical one uses objective evidence, the mystic looks into the eyes, and the brutal uses brute force to obtain confessions. 

The audience is kept guessing until the very end. SPOILER ahead...

The story begins in a field and we learn early on that Park can read who is guilty and not guilty by looking into their eyes... until it fails him at the end of the movie. At the end Park returns to the field. He encounters a girl who says that another man came there, apparently it was the killer, just an ordinary looking person. This time the killer hasn’t killed the young girl in the field, but he’s still out there. Park realizing this, looks straight at the camera, seemingly using his eye-contact method to spot the killer among the audience. Maybe the real life killer who was never caught in the 1980s actually meets his gaze... in any case we all meet his gaze, and as Park stares at us, it causes us to stop and ask...what does he see when he looks into our eyes? Guilty or not guilty?

The last shot makes me think of Hebrews 4:12. Which tells us the Word of God is like a sword that pierces into our deepest, innermost parts and shows us what we really are. Parks gaze is a piercing gaze that stays with you long after the movie ends. 

This is a must watch!