Memories of Murder and Some Sizzling Meat

One part of Memories of Murder that really unsettled me was its ending; I didn’t like the fact that the audience never finds out who the serial killer is and that the film ends with a giant question mark. There was no closure in this movie, and it made me uncomfortable.  Upon further research of the film after our screening, I found out that this film is actually based on a true story where the actual murderer has still not been caught to this day! And even if he or she were to be discovered, the statute of limitations of this case was reached in 2006. This film was already disturbing to begin with, but what made me feel 10x worse was learning that it is based on a true story.

A potential visual motif that I’d like to draw attention toward in the film is the image of sizzling meat on the grill. I’m a bit perplexed and intrigued by the film’s insertion of shots of Korean barbecue juxtaposed with the other parts of the film. There are two particular parts of the film that I recall this occurring.

The first is immediately after finding the murder of Dokko Hyun-Soo. We first see the detectives standing around the assaulted dead body of Hyun-Soo, and the next immediate shot is a close-up of meat on the grill, which feels unusual and perverse. And something interesting about this scene is that in it, Inspector Suh is complaining to the Chief of the force’s waste of time looking at suspects like Kwang-ho when Detective Park interjects, saying, “Have some meat before you speak.” Inspector Suh replies, “I don’t eat burnt meat.”

The second time I recall the shot of meat being cut to is when Yong-gu is being belligerent in the restaurant and starting a fight. Kwang-ho comes in and hits Yong-gu with a wooden stick, with its nail stabbing Yong-gu right in the shin. Immediately after this stab, the film cuts to the shot of sizzling meat. What is the meaning of these shots and references to the grilled meat in this film? Why are such seemingly trivial shot of cooked meat even included in the first place? My theory is that it is a perverse way of making human fleshly mortality much more real. It is a way of reinforcing that we are all just flesh that can be easily cooked. But then what is the significance of the meat being cooked? What does its cooking represent? And why does Inspector Suh not eat "burnt meat"?...