Cinema from Opposite Sides of the World Have Some Things in Common
December 2019
Kelly Brennan
In the early 2000’s, two blockbuster films came out from opposite sides of the world; both dealing with a similar topic of serial killers, the two films made their mark on the cinematic world. In 2003, Memories of Murder came out in Korea with flying colors from director Bong Joon-ho. Then, in 2007, Zodiac came out of the woodworks from director David Fincher who had directed other films such as Fight Club. “Fincher's fascination with urban paranoia and dangerous games make him the perfect man for the job” (French 1). The two films dealt with the story of an investigation of a series of serial killings in their own respective countries. Despite the cultural differences of the two films, the similarities of cinematic techniques and plot lines overpower the fact that the films are from opposite sides of the world, showing the importance of these serial killers on the cultures.
Whereas Memories of Murder is from Korea, Zodiac is from Hollywood; the difference in cultural aspects is apparent from the location of each film. In Korea, this was the first documented serial killings that took place in the 1980’s-1990’s. At this time, Korea was not nearly as advanced technologically as America was; this is shown several times throughout the film where the detectives are trying to forge evidence, and even frame different men as the killer.
Based on the actual story of Korea’s first serial killer, the film interweaves a criminal narrative with an implicitly retrospective meditation on modern Korea. [...] The appearance of violent crimes in the sleepy rural villages in which the film is set serves as a synecdoche for the vexing emergence of Korean modernity in general. But though the film narrates an actual series of events, it simultaneously breaks down the possibility of historical memory, and for the same reasons that police investigation falls short: detectives, like the unsuccessful empiricist historian, ultimately cannot ascertain facts. (Jonghyun Jeon 77)
However, the most prominent example of the lack of technology in Memories of Murder is when the detectives found a trace of semen on one of the women’s body. But, because the country is lacking the technology, they had to send it to America to get the DNA tested.
On the other hand, Zodiac took place in the 1960’s-1970’s, portraying a serial killer who murdered his victims in brutal ways and sent horrific letters to the newspaper. Unlike Memories of Murder, in Zodiac, there’s a huge focus on the technology of the time. Throughout the film the detectives are consistently using handwriting samples, DNA testing, tracing of phone calls, and even fingerprint matching to help aid in the search for the killer. Even outside of the storyline, the film is heavily based off of technology: “Zodiac was the first film ever to be shot directly to a hard drive and uses CGI to explore the ultimately futile investigative efforts of its male protagonists, serving as a cogent exemplification of many of the aesthetic and thematic tropes” (Schreiber 4).
Despite their cultural differences, the similarity of the serial killers is striking. In both Memories of Murder and Zodiac, the serial killer of the story repeats a pattern. Whereas in Memories of Murder the killer always murdered his victims the same way, in Zodiac the killer always repeated a pattern of what he did after he committed the crime. In Memories of Murder, the killer would always rape and murder his victim, who was always a woman. Then the killer would take her hands and tie them behind her head, and then take her panties and put them over her head; the killer also only murdered women who were wearing red, while it was raining, and after he had requested a specific song to play on the radio. Whereas in Zodiac, the murderer would kill his victims in different ways, by knife or gun perhaps, but then would always call the police, tell them exactly where the crime was committed as well as how it was done, admit to doing the crime to the police, and then would write a letter to the newspaper admitting that he did it and often sending threats and codes as well.
As well as the pattern of killings that the killers showed in both films, there was also a pattern of a clear focus on women victims. In Memories of Murder, the only victims that were killed and raped were women. However, in Zodiac, if the killer went after a couple, he often got so caught up in killing the women that he forgot to finish off the men. Because of this, in at least two instances, the men survived while the women died.
The next similarity between the two films is the fact that there were two investigators in each film. In Memories of Murder, there was a “country cop” named Park, and a “city cop” who was named Seo. Seo came from the city of Seoul to help with the investigation because he was more professional and knew what he was doing with the investigation at hand. The director, Bong Joon-Ho shows how unskilled the authorities were at the time through the portrayal of the “country cop.” Park brings in countless suspects and tortures them all, forcing them to confess to something that they didn’t do. “There are several obstacles in their way: their lack of training as detectives, their prejudices, their reliance on instinct, their sexism, their preference for beating up first and asking questions later” (Rayns 18).
On the other hand, in Zodiac, the two investigators that are portrayed in the film are thought to be professional, smart, and quick on their feet. Unlike Memories of Murder, they had trouble finding many suspects, and the one that the two investigators did find they had to let go because there was no hard evidence against him.
In both films, the viewer is left unsatisfied with not knowing who the killer is at the end. In both instances, the investigators could not arrest and prosecute the suspect because there was no hard evidence against them. There’s no hard evidence against the suspect Hyeon-gyu in Memories of Murder because the DNA test does not match him even though it is clear to the viewer that he did it. Similarly, there’s no hard evidence against the suspect Leigh in Zodiac because the handwriting samples and fingerprints do not match even though all signs point to him being the criminal. In Zodiac, we’re left exhausted by the end of the film because of the fact that the killer never got justice for what he did. As Hodges writes on his blog:
Our brains are drowning with facts we can’t resolve, witnesses and suspects we can’t rely on, and heroes who have lost their way. The longer the film continues, the more we hunger and obsess, lumbering through the procedure of discovering the identity of the Zodiac killer. The procedural stops being a genre and takes hold as a psychological state, and, by the film’s final act, our heads our spinning.
The two films leave the viewer unsatisfied with the never-ending suspect investigations, crime scene facts, and destruction of justice.
In each film, the cinematic technique of the color scheme is important due to its portrayal of the serial killer through color. When the film’s plot is moving forward, the color scheme is often bright, colorful, and light. Whereas when the serial killer in both films is being dealt with or talked about, the color scheme is dark, eerie, muddy, dull, and ominous.
The important thing to note about the two films is that the similarities outweigh the differences, but there’s still differences within those similarities. The two films took similar stories, and turned them into critically acclaimed films because of their riveting plots and cinematic techniques. Overall, the two films portray the serial killer in a menacing light, making the viewer feel sympathetic to the victims and the investigators, while keeping the viewers attention focused on the outcome of the investigation.
The importance of these films come from the storyline; each country was dealing with the new concept of serial killers and the fear that came along with these killings. Zodiac and Memories of Murder both accurately portray the fear and hysteria in their countries that came along with a serial killer on the loose. The importance of these killings on each culture is shown through the fear of the citizens portrayed in the films, as well as the hysteria that the investigators felt when the killers did not get the justice that they deserve because of a lack of evidence. Overall, both films were able to convey the emotions that the countries were feeling during these time periods.
Work Cited
Butterfield, Michael. “The Zodiac Killer: A Timeline.” History, 8 Nov. 2017,
https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-killer-a-timeline.
French, Philip. “The Suspense Is Killing Them: THE MAIN EVENT: The Spellbinding,
Intelligent, True-Life Thriller Zodiac Is a Triumph for Director David Fincher: Zodiac.” The Observer, 20 May 2007. ProQuest Central , file:///C:/Users/19736/Downloads/ProQuestDocuments-2019-11-17 (1).pdf.
Hodges, Brendan. “The Metaplex.” The Metaplex, 29 Sept. 2014,
http://themetaplex.com/reviews/2014/zodiac-movie-review-and-analysis.
Jeon, Joseph Jonghyun. “Memories of Memories: Historicity, Nostalgia, and Archive in Bong
Joon-Ho's Memories of Murder.” Cinema Journal, vol. 51, no. 1, 2011, pp. 75–95. ProQuest Central, https://search-proquest-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/central/docview/916606889/fulltextPDF/BA6F9897CB5843B6PQ/1?accountid=13420.
Rayns, Tony. “Suspicious Minds.” Sight and Sound, pp. 18–20.
Schreiber, Michele. “Tiny Life: Technology and Masculinity in the Films of David Fincher.”
Journal of Film and Video, vol. 68, no. 1, 2016, pp. 3–18. ProQuest, file:///C:/Users/19736/Documents/Tiny LIFE DAvID FINCHER.pdf.
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