As we get older, the chance that our body starts to show defects is increasing. If you injure yourself, you will recover less quickly, you may need a new hip and a cold can have more serious consequences. Yet slowly losing your brain, your thoughts and who you are may be the most frightening thing that can happen. That you can no longer rely on the thing which makes you who you are and could no longer recognize the world around you. Forgetting what you did yesterday. If you are a serial killer who has decided years ago to no longer murder and suddenly find out that bodies are found, how do you know if you did not when you can’t remember?
That is the starting point of this Korean action / crime film. Byung-su (Kyung-gu Sol) lives with his daughter and suffers from Alzheimer’s. He is a man who has no feelings and therefore can’t empathize with others. He has his bright moments, but also periods when he can not remember anything and uses an audio recorder to remember details. When he hears news that girls are being murdered and through a specific situation recognizes another man as a serial killer, he tries to do everything to catch him, even though he is not sure if he might have done something himself.
When the narrator of a story is unreliable, and he knows this himself, it is important that you as a viewer believe his experience, even if it might not be true. Kyung-gu Sol, however, succeeds in convincingly portraying up a man who is both a caring father and an unapproachable man who is almost grotesque in the way he moves his face. His opponent is extremely sympathetic, even though it is clear that he is wearing different “masks” depending on the situation. Memoir of a Murderer is an interesting thriller in which you constantly ask yourself what the truth is and whether Byung-su will eventually succeed in stopping the murders. Thanks to the excellent acting you feel sympathy for a serial killer, which is both a compliment to the actor and director as that’s something which isn’t always easy to do.
[score7]
Oh now this sounds fascinating! I’ve only very recently started dipping my toe into the South Korean thriller genre but I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far.
I started watching more Korean movies a few years back and it’s an amazing thing to explore. The stories and tone are so different and refreshing compared to most mainstream movies. Hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did.