It is the year 2003 and this movie industry gave three masterpieces which no one has dared to match its level till now. I am here to talk about one of the releases, a Korean film directed by the famous director ‘Bong Joon Ho’ :
Memories Of Murder
For those who haven’t yet watched it, here is a plot summary for the movie: Park (Song Kang-ho) and Cho (Kim Roi-ha) are two detectives assigned to a double murder investigation in a South Korean region in 1986. When the murderer attacks again and again in the same pattern, the police realize they are on the trail of the country’s first known serial killer. In this true-crime thriller, Park and Jo attempt to put together the facts and solve the case using just their basic abilities and instruments.
Despite its age, this picture possesses Bong Joon Ho’s vision for a colour palette that accentuates the subject matter. The beauty of the fields during the day and the innocence of children frolicking in them contrasts sharply with the same fields on a wet night. Memories of Murder mixes comedy, fragility, ego, and pure evil into a fast-paced film that still stands up after 14 years. It hums with beauty and churns with human emotion.
Well I can keep on describing this movie and it may never end, such is its beauty. But here I am to list out more movies for the MoM fans. A list of movies stuffed with a storyline dark as hell, a crime which is above our imagination with a taste of thrill.
1. El Secreto de sus Ojos
(The Secret in Their Eyes)
An Argentinian film was released in 2009. The plot of The Secret in Their Eyes revolves on a retired legal counsellor who is preparing to publish his first novel and decides to use a quarter-century-old case he previously worked on as his subject material. The tale then interweaves two stories, one about the case itself, which was about the terrible rape and death of a young girl, and the other about the buried romance between him and his supervisor, both of whom worked on the case together and are still haunted by it.
2. Contratiempo (2016)
(The Invisible Guest)
A Spanish 2016 thriller. A young businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room next to the body of his dead lover. He hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him, and over the course of one night, they work together to find out what happened. Director deserves applause for writing a nail-biting plot that makes the audience sit on the edge of the seat. Though the pace of the movie is quite slow there are a lot of unexpected twists and turns in the script which is very gripping to watch.
3. Nightcrawler (2014)
A thriller set in today’s Los Angeles’ midnight underbelly. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a desperate young man who stumbles into the fast-paced world of LA crime journalism. A collection of freelance video workers capturing falls, fires, murders, and other disasters, and bringing Lou muscles into the perilous, perilous realm of Nightcrwaling – where every siren call from the police is a possible blessing and victims are transformed into money and cents. Lou blurs the boundary between viewer and participant in order to become the protagonist of his own tale, aided by Rene Russo as Nina, a veteran of the blood sports that dominate local TV news.
4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 film based on Thomas Harris’s novel of the same name. It was the first “horror movie” to win an Academy Award, and it was just the third film in history to sweep all five major categories, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The storyline of the film is that a young FBI cadet must confide in a jailed and manipulative serial murderer in order to get his assistance in apprehending another serial killer who skins his victims.
5. The Lives of Others (2006)
On March 23, 2006, the film was released in Germany. The film depicts life in East Germany and the cruelty of communist-led regimes that thrived on fear and were preoccupied with control and power, breaching even basic human rights. The ‘German Democratic Republic’ was neither democratic nor republican, raising the question of the possibility of a silver lining between Communism and Nazism. An uplifting thriller novel in which principles such as “patriotism and morals” as well as feelings such as “guilt and sorrow” are put to the test in a psychologically difficult way.
6. Room (2015)
Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her young son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time. A spectacular movie that is heart-rending and soul-crushing. Thanks to an exceptionally brilliant performance by Brie Larson, this movie might be small but its impact is enormous. Without any doubt one of the most impressive pieces of filmmaking in years.
7. The Skin I Live In (2011)
The Skin I Live In is a 2011 Spanish psychological thriller film. Ever since his beloved wife was horribly burned in an auto accident, Dr Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), a skilled plastic surgeon, has tried to develop a new skin that could save the lives of burn victims. Finally, after 12 years, Ledgard has created skin that guards the body but is still sensitive to touch. With the aid of his faithful housekeeper (Marisa Paredes), Ledgard tests his creation on Vera (Elena Anaya), who is held prisoner against her will in the doctor’s mansion. t’s raw, filled with plot twists and complicated art definitely a must watch! I don’t recommend it if you have a weak stomach as it goes into controversial topics such as rape, vengeance, and taboo science.
8. Incendies
A dying Middle Eastern woman living in Montreal leaves separate letters to her twin children to be read once she passes away. Jeanne is to deliver hers to the father the twins never knew, and Simon is to give his to the brother they never knew they had. The siblings travel to the Middle East separately, where they each experience acts of brutality, uncover the startling family history and have revelations about themselves. Gut-wrenching performances and the excruciating pain of the characters will leave you almost numb at the end of the film.
9. Prisoners
What lengths would you go to safeguard your child? Denis Villeneuve, who directed the Oscar-nominated Foreign Language film Incendies, directs this suspense thriller based on Aaron Guzikowski’s original screenplay. This picture thrills the spectator with quiet and stillness rather than jumpscares. Its quiet and cool tone creates the type of unease it wants its viewers to experience, and naturally, the audience wants to get rid of that uneasiness by learning what’s going on, thus driving them to watch the full film, which spans roughly 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The best part is almost all these movies are loosely based on true stories which make it harder to digest. I am so jealous of the people who have just discovered these movies, you are in for a treat. For those who had already ticked all these movies…get a life!! Just kidding. Let me know which was the most favourite one?
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