Memories of Murder's unsolved

Memories of Murder is an unsettling yet extremely well crafted movie. It is likely my favourite movie of the semester. It kept me constantly at the edge of my seat, disgusted and entertained with it's brief moments of comical relief. I did not want this movie to end because I felt that I needed closure. I was shocked at the movie's conclusion and even more shocked upon reading, in Jinhee Choi's article, that the plot was based on actual unresolved historical murder cases in a rural South Korean town.

Reading Choi's article confirmed my suspicion that the director was representing a cultural critique as, Choi states, “the film indirectly references the political situation and atmosphere of the 1980s, hinting at the incompetence of the Korean military government then in power” (148). Throughout the movie there is a continuing tension between how things are said to be done, how things should be done and how things are actually done. In my opinion this movie also creates a tension between what is easy and what is right. Before the arrival of Detective Seo I had convinced myself that I would probably hate this movie because up until the point of Seo's arrival it seemed as though the audience was meant to identify with Detective Park, who I quickly hated for framing the innocent and pitiful Kwang-Ho. I hated Detective Park for doing what to him was easiest, framing Kwang-Ho, instead of what was right, searching for the real murderer. Detective Seo became easy to identify with seeing as he was always looking for justice and not an easy end to the case. As the movie progressed it seems as though the line between what is easy to do and what is right begins to blur. Although I strongly supported justice in the beginning I was sad and unsatisfied with the fact that Park Hyeon-Gyu was proven innocent as well as the fact that Detective Park didn't shoot him dead. My own reaction to the ending surprised me and got me thinking about the necessity for closure in human nature. At the end of the movie Detective Seo has failed to find closure in the “right” way, through clues and the justice system, and is denied closure through the “easy” way, as he is kept from killing Park Hyeon-Gyu. Due to this, Detective Seo cannot return to his cool, level headed attitude and disappears from the story line whereas Detective Park changes his life around yet still cannot let go of the unresolved case.

Was this desire for resolution at all costs felt by anyone else? where does the will and desire to blame Park Hyeon-Gyu come from? Did Kwang-Ho potentially reveal who the murderer was before his death when he indicated that "that person" had pushed him into the fire? Did this movie create a resurfaced interest in the factual murderers of which it was based on? Yet again, trains come into the movie as a symbol of death or near death experiences, why? Is this a unique trope of South Korean films?

Jinhee Choi, “Not Just Metteurs-en-scene: High Quality Films,” South Korean Film Renaissance, 144- 163.