*** out of ****
“Memories of Murder” is a beautifully directed, wonderfully acted murder-mystery thriller from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho. His previous film was “Barking Dogs Never Bite”, a witty satire; and the film that he followed up this one with was “The Host”. Now, I have always loved “The Host”; which is the best monster movie of the 2000’s, and perhaps my favorite of all-time; or at least one of them. I admire how Joon-Ho breathes new life in the form of satire and commentary into each of his films. Somehow, he manages to succeed in doing so yet again in this movie; which happens to be about something that most people wouldn’t even attempt to satirize: serial killers.
“Memories of Murder” is a beautifully directed, wonderfully acted murder-mystery thriller from Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho. His previous film was “Barking Dogs Never Bite”, a witty satire; and the film that he followed up this one with was “The Host”. Now, I have always loved “The Host”; which is the best monster movie of the 2000’s, and perhaps my favorite of all-time; or at least one of them. I admire how Joon-Ho breathes new life in the form of satire and commentary into each of his films. Somehow, he manages to succeed in doing so yet again in this movie; which happens to be about something that most people wouldn’t even attempt to satirize: serial killers.
This is, to my knowledge, the first serial killer-thriller that Bong Joon-Ho has directed. Yet, he still seems to know the basics; and he puts his own unique spin on the genre. He is a skilled filmmaker and he’s out to prove it. “Memories of Murder” works so well because it is not drenched in style, but it is very much interested in its characters and its narrative. Sometimes, of course, there are characters that feel a bit left out amongst others; but when you’ve got a movie this involving, you just don’t care all that much.
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