Confession of Murder (2012)

Featuring an intriguing premise, cleverly plotted for the most part & portraying a very unsettling side of society, Confession of Murder is another impressive outing from South Korean cinema that continues the Asian film industry's trend of delivering one solid revenge thriller after another without showing any signs of fatigue and even though it's not amongst the finest examples of its genre, it's a good one nonetheless.

The story of Confession of Murder concerns a police detective who is haunted by his failure to capture a serial-killer 15 years ago when, after the expiration of statute of limitations, the killer publishes an autobiography describing each one of his murders in gruesome detail through which he claims of repentance for his crimes. But his authenticity is soon questioned when another person claiming to be the real killer turns up.

Directed by Jung Byung-gil, this is his mainstream feature film debut & even though the story suffers from few scenes that are far too outstretched or predictable, it's a solid start to his mainstream career. Screenplay is another fine aspect as the twists are nicely timed & events unfold in a steady manner, camera-work shows a dynamic range from frequently edited cuts to lingering shots & music also has a nice vibe to it.

The performances are good with both lead actors constantly challenging each other but the one problem I have is with some sequences that seem unnecessarily exaggerated, not to mention the CGI elements which look mind-numbingly horrible. Yet, the best part is the society it portrays where the supposed serial killer becomes a media sensation due to his good looks & gets his own fan following despite the unforgivable acts he committed.

On an overall scale, Confession of Murder might be predictable despite its twists n turns and isn't further helped by its non-linear narration which doesn't contributing much to the cinematic experience anyway but it's another fine addition to the long list of dark thrillers South Korea has been churning out since the dawn of the new century. It is no masterpiece, not even close to one, but the final ride still feels more satisfying than a mere disappointment.

Fmovies: I've said it countless times, the quality of Movies coming out of South Korea is incredible.

This movie is one of my favorites.

Firstly, I love Jae-yeong Jeong in this. All the acting is brilliant, all the characters are great.

Secondly, I love the pace of this movie. The speed is great. Even though maybe a little improbable the action scenes really liven the movie up.

Thirdly, the ending.

This is a great movie. If you love South Korean movies, why have you not seen this one. If you have not seen any South Korean movies then start watching South Korean movies and start off with this one.

I can't tell anything from the movie, because everything would be spoiler. I was just amazed by the feeling of this movie.

It's a little bit faster, has more action involved, than most of the slow Korean thrillers. Maybe there is a little bit of Hollywood in it. The storyline is just amazing, the only bad things are some illogical, meaningless action scene, but I couldn't give other then 10 points because of that. I will be interested in the rating of this film, after hitting the theaters...

I recommend this to everyone, who likes original, interesting situations and story, and wicked twists.

Confession of Murder fmovies. The bad: Really highly improbable car stunt and other action scenes that had the likelihood and ludicrousness of comic book writing. People jumping from rooftops; out of moving vehicles onto hospital gurneys or tops of other cars while fighting as if no more dangerous than on a kitchen table top, etc. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be spoofing movies that go cheaply overboard in that direction, or not. Decided not, that they were serious. A sadly laughable distraction that lessened the intelligence of the storyline. The good: As others will state it has a novel crime thriller twist and turn structure not seen elsewhere. Kudos for that.

Overall score = 6.

There are no lack of examples when it comes to very sterling specimens of solid psychological crime thrillers to come out of South Korean cinema in recent years, and it's no different that Confession of Murder also belongs up there with one of the best the country has to offer in the genre. Written and directed by Jung Byoung-Gil, whose earlier film was the documentary Action Boys, he has shown that he's not all just about action, but has the knack in crafting a taut thriller with its fair share of twists, turns, and more importantly, providing it with such a tormented soul that will allow you to feel sympathetic for the victims involved, and root for retribution on the culprit. If that can be found out.

At first glance, the story seems simple enough, with Detective Choi Hyung-Goo (Jung Jae- Young) losing his opportunity to nab a masked serial killer who had claimed more than 10 victims in a random killing spree, with that obsession spiralling his life downwards with the ultimate insult added to injury when his mouth got slit by the killer's knife, leaving a deep scar he bears as a symbol to his failure. Fast forward to some 15 years, and with the Statute of Limitations expired, Lee Doo-Suk (Park Si-Hoo) comes out in the open to admit he is the killer responsible for the spate of deaths, and now releasing a book as a memoir and confession to his dastardly deeds. A little bit of an artistic license here I believe, since the Statute of Limitations is only for civil cases and not criminal ones like this, but let's not quibble and accept that it does pose an intriguing proposition, something like double jeopardy.

So begins the cat and mouse chase of trying to prove, or disprove that Lee was indeed that man more than a decade ago who had shattered the lives of many family members with his killings, and now arrogantly living the high life of a celebrity, no thanks to celebrity culture that we cannot understand fully, where cult followings grow out of the most bizarre of situations, and those who are good looking are automatically assumed improbable to doing the most wicked of deeds. With bodyguards in tow and the law shackled by its own statutes, there is little that Detective Choi can do except to sit back and witness media adoration, and rocket sales of a book that shouldn't have been published in the first place.

Similar to Park Chan Wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the events that unfold her include that of the impact to family, and how family decide to take it upon themselves in vigilante style to execute their brand of justice when the law gets paralyzed. In between the more emotional, dramatic moments where their pain get experienced with Lee's sheer audacity of a public appearance and confession, director Jung felt it was perhaps appropriate to inject extremely light comedy to diffuse heavier moments that were dangerously close to stagnating the narrative, with a wee bit of action for good measure as well. Something's not quite right, and there's more than meets the eye of course, when yet another man comes out to claim notoriety and responsibility to the serial killings, throwing everything you'd assume into disarray.

Which is a good thing of course, especially for the jaded amongst us who constantly think we have seen it all. What the story, also by Jung, did was not only to lapse into providing red herrings that were obvious, but to really invest an audience's time and emotions into the story. We learn about a select group of victims, and how their

The latest Korean action-thriller to hit theatres in Singapore, 'Confession of Murder' is a gem of a film that can be compared to the likes of 'Old Boy' and 'Memories of Murder'.

At the heart of this movie is the tale of Detective Choi, whose quest is to capture the one thing that evades him. It's a very human resolve and one that is particularly relatable to the people of our time. We're not all cops searching for a suspect, but very much like Detective Choi, we have that one answer that we seek our entire lives and work hard to find out. The prevalence and influence of the media, plastic surgery, as well as blind devotion to a public figure have all been gracefully written into the script, and so surrounding that story is a context so rooted in reality that it could very well be our own daily lives.

The performances in this film are truly commendable, particularly those of the stuntmen for the deadly accurate execution of the stunts. In particular, the main actors brilliantly brought in the subtle aspects of their characters, in order to bring humanity to a larger-than life drama, effectively giving a hook for the audience to relate to the movie on a deeper level.

There is also dark humor in the movie, which brings some levity into an otherwise dark world that the audience becomes immersed in. One almost feels guilty for laughing, which is a testament to the irony of the humor. What makes the situation on screen so humorous is how exceedingly close it is to what would happen if such a thing were to take place in real-life. Such a thing is almost never portrayed in films for the sake of cinematic impact- but by doing the opposite, 'Confession of Murder' turns itself into almost a satire and criticism of popular culture.

This is one film that defines 'order in chaos' and does so with a great deal of style. The makers of it have taken a complex plot and planned it out with such precision that even to the non-Korean speaking viewer, the story being told is clear and concise. There is no beating around the bush with this film. The pacing is just right such that Confession of Murder never loses the audience's attention, and even at the most tumultuous times of this film (such as one of the many fast-paced dialogue exchanges), details are never lost. Even the action sequences have been tightly-choreographed in order to mould into the complex camera-work and it shows on screen as a beautiful and graceful wedding of skills from both cast and crew.

The twist at the end is also a reminder of what great cinema is and is capable of doing, i.e. shocking the audience by leaving out one aspect of the story and then revealing it at the end only to change the audience's entire perspective of what has happened all along. It is making the audience feel like they should have known better. It also proves the uncomfortable truth that we are capable of being fooled, and that reality as we perceive it is often imperfect.

In this film, the peripeteia then leads to a startling climax which fulfils the purpose of every character in this film before moving down into a resolution which leaves no loose ends untied. Indeed, 'Confession of Murder' is a film indeed worth watching and a tale highly relevant to our celebrity-obsessed times.