![]() ![]() First and least evergreen was the idea that returning the viewer’s gaze would viscerally bridge the gap between contemporary Korean audiences and the violent horrors of their country’s all too recent past. Several of the moment’s stated intentions have been negated in some way. Now that we know a man named Lee Choon-jae confessed to all nine of the killings depicted in Bong’s movie (in addition to six others) in 2019, the dying seconds of “Memories of Murder” can’t help but hit different. ![]() Unsupported by a futile national police force that devoted the majority of its manpower to suppressing the student rebellion that had risen up against Chun Doo-hwan’s oppressive regime, and kept in the dark (sometimes literally) because of despotic policies on both sides of the 38th Parallel, the kick-happy Keystone Kops driving the film’s tragicomic investigation naturally crash into a dead end. ![]() This question only applies to so many films, but none have asked it more directly - or answered it with more force - than Bong Joon Ho’s “ Memories of Murder.” A loose but historically redolent evocation of the serial killings that plagued the rural South Korean city of Hwaseong between 19, Bong’s 2003 masterpiece defrosted his country’s most notorious cold case by looking back at it as a damning microcosm of life during autocracy, and as a symptom of the powerlessness that can seep into the general population of any country whose government only cares about preserving its own tenuous control of them. Would an uncannily effective studio thriller like “The Mothman Prophecies” still be eerie enough to punch above its weight class if the Mothman turned out to be a bored accountant named Gary whose prank calls got a little out of hand? Probably not. On Thursday, authorities said they had identified another piece of evidence to analyze to further their investigation.Every film inspired by a real unsolved crime leaves behind the same lingering question: Would any of then retain their full power if their respective real-world crimes were eventually solved? Would “Zodiac” still be such a haunting police sketch of pathological obsession in a world where viewers could Google the killer’s identity in less time than it takes Robert Graysmith to crack even the easiest cypher? Probably. Police nevertheless vowed to continue investigating the crimes in service to history and the victims’ families. ![]() Both Bong and his longtime leading-man collaborator Song Kang-ho regularly cite the film as some of their proudest work together.Īlthough the evidence appears overwhelming, Korean police say they will not be able to prosecute the suspect for the Hwaseong serial murders because the statute of limitations expired back in April 2006. Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho, winner of this year’s Cannes Palme D’or for Parasite, adapted the incident into his second feature film, which dominated the South Korean box office at the time of its release, and gradually came to be regarded as an international cult classic. “In July this year, we sent part of the evidence to the National Forensic Service, the result of which show that the DNA of the suspect matches at least three of the ten cases,” officials said. In many of the killings, a piece of the victims’ clothing, such as stockings or a blouse, was used for strangulation. Spanning from 19, 10 female victims ranging from their teens to aged 70 were found raped and brutally murdered in the city of Hwaseong, located in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul. The previously unsolved crimes rocked South Korea as the country’s first high-profile serial killer case. ![]()
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