Throughout the
entire movie, I could not take my eyes off the screen. Although this was my
second time watching Memories of Murder,
it was just as good as the first time I saw it, or perhaps even better.
However, one thing that was different was my attitude. Before when I watched
this movie, I was focused more on my emotions. From what I remember, I was
somewhat excited, scared, disgusted, and by the end of the movie, I had
developed an extreme anger towards murderers and especially rapists. The
director definitely did a great job of evoking emotions within me. This time as
I watched the film, I tried to catch the intentions of the director and what he
wanted to deliver. I was amazed by how detailed the director was and understood
why his nickname is “Bong-tail” (he is very famous for being meticulous and embedding
multiple layers within his plotline). There were so many underlying motifs and
symbols, such as faces, grasshoppers, mirrors, tunnels, train tracks, meat,
vomit, shoes, civil defense drills and stairs, just to name a
few. These motifs gave way for a variety of interpretations, however I felt
like sometimes they led me astray. The more I focused on analyzing specific
details, the more I lost the big picture.
After seeing the last scene and meeting Song Kang-ho’s intense gaze I thought, “What was the director trying to say?” I thought that the director was deliberately trying not to pinpoint the murderer because that would defeat the whole purpose of recreating a movie based on an unsolved murder case. Although it is frustrating for the viewers, I think it was a right call to leave the movie without the culprit caught. After doing some research, I found out that the movie is a remake of the play Come and See Me, and the title of the play literally targets the murderer to come and see. In an interview director Bong said that he debated on whether the title of the movie should be Come and See Me or Turn Yourself In Or May You Rot and Die, which is what was written on the scarecrow in the first crime scene. After reading this interview, it made a whole lot more sense to me. When Doo-man looks straight into the camera and says “밥은 먹고다니냐” (translated as “Do you get up each morning too?”) I feel like he is directly saying to the murderer “How can you even be alive after doing what you’ve done?” I believe that this, along with Song Kang-ho’s eye contact in the last scene, is enough to speculate that Bong is sending a message to the murderer amongst the audience. The murders must not be forgotten and must not be conceived as mere memories.
After seeing the last scene and meeting Song Kang-ho’s intense gaze I thought, “What was the director trying to say?” I thought that the director was deliberately trying not to pinpoint the murderer because that would defeat the whole purpose of recreating a movie based on an unsolved murder case. Although it is frustrating for the viewers, I think it was a right call to leave the movie without the culprit caught. After doing some research, I found out that the movie is a remake of the play Come and See Me, and the title of the play literally targets the murderer to come and see. In an interview director Bong said that he debated on whether the title of the movie should be Come and See Me or Turn Yourself In Or May You Rot and Die, which is what was written on the scarecrow in the first crime scene. After reading this interview, it made a whole lot more sense to me. When Doo-man looks straight into the camera and says “밥은 먹고다니냐” (translated as “Do you get up each morning too?”) I feel like he is directly saying to the murderer “How can you even be alive after doing what you’ve done?” I believe that this, along with Song Kang-ho’s eye contact in the last scene, is enough to speculate that Bong is sending a message to the murderer amongst the audience. The murders must not be forgotten and must not be conceived as mere memories.
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