Memories of Murder (2003)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Park Doo-man	Song Kang-ho
Seo Tae-yoon	Kim Sang-kyung	½
Cho Yong-koo	Kim Roi-ha	½
Sergeant Shin Dong-chul	Song Jae-ho	-
Sergeant Koo Hee-bong	Byun Hee-bong	-
Jo Byeong-Sun	Ryu Tae-Ho	-
Baek Kwang-ho	Park No-shik	-
Park Hyeon-gyu	Park Hae-il

Review

A black comedy about police incompetence, ineffective interrogation methods, and mass hysteria in the wake of a serial killer in semi-rural South Korea in the 1980s, signed director Bong Joon-ho (later of Parasite). With its peculiar tone, delicately balanced between the grimness of the killer's actions and the absurdity of our protagonists lacking ability to deal with the situation, the film creeps up on you and slowly tightens its grip. There is real finesse in Mr. Bong's storytelling; he knows how to lead the emotional responses of his audience, and he uses it to effect without ever coming off as manipulative or speculative. On the contrary, he seems genuinely and amusingly interested in the social mechanisms he is describing. And of course, in the real-life crimes upon which the film is loosely based. A fascinating study of human ineptitude in all its glory, and of our need to find easy solutions to the things we cannot fathom.