I'm a fan of true trime - both books and movies - and it's a bit of a suprise how this movie could have eluded me since 2011, especially since South Korean cinema still is THE cinema that affects me emotionally like no other cinema. Children... (difficult title I must say, as we say in Sweden "ogooglebar" almost) is based on a true mystery. In 1991 five boys disappeared from their village. 300000 cops was sent out to find them, the area was search over 500 times - but no trace of them. Ten years after their bodies are found inside the searched area, not far from the village... This movie is part fiction part true. It's told from the point of view of a ruthless but skilled documentary filmmaker who gets obsessed by the mystery. He involves a local professor who seems to have a lot of good theories and soon the hunt is on, but that also means they show no respect toward the parents - which ultimatly leads to... well, I don't want to tell you.
Children... is both a very straightforward AND complex character study. Part good old murder mystery, part drama about obsession, part a criticial view on media's behaviour. It's difficult not to think of Memories of Murder when watching this one. Set in the countryside, murders, incompetent cops and obsession to solve something - even if it means innocent people will get hurt. I can't say Children... is as good as Memories, but it's damn close. The biggest fault is the last half hour, not bad - but also something we've seen before. I have no problem with the last scene's tear-jerking visions, but the solution of the mystery itself could have been done better. Now it feels a little thrown in just to have something to give the audience. The case is still unsolved.
But hell, it's still a great movie. I love how things are built up, often very powerful - just to make us wake up in the end, feeling the carpet of safety pulled from under our feet, and we're back on zero again. It's rarely you see this in American - or even European - cinema. It's an investment in characters and story that's just means nothing suddenly, but it's also a powerful feeling. Something very few dares to do. And somehow it kinda ties together in the end, but never in a completely satisifying way. I've written it before, it's the triggering of the imagination that turns me on.
I'm a softie and towards the end I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I don't like being emotional about movies. It's an illusion. It's not real, it's just emotional porn that will fool us we still can feel something. Maybe that's why I've stayed away from this kind of South Korean dramas for quite a while now, focusing on monsters and disaster. Anyway, I feel ready to watch some more in the genre now - if I've missed this one since 2011 I must have missed something else of quality.
A find cast rounds up the movie, amazing faces and eyes that tells more stories than their mouths say. That's acting. The location, those winding streets in the village, the mountains filled with dry leaf. It's poetic in it's grittiness. It never really works doing this in Sweden, with red houses and green forests - it takes away the haunted quality of the stories. Everything feels cleaner and more... polished. Nothing beats a sad Korean face to the background of a snowy street. Nothing.
There's something special with South Korean cinema. I think it's the emotional quality of the scripts. There can be how many twists or wild character developments, but the main thing is still the human part of the story. The finely written personalities, the subtle - and sometimes the totally opposite - dialogues, hinting of something darker - but never being to clear or "on the nose". That's why the movie works better when everything is unknown, when there's no suspects or the obsession actually goes in the wrong direction. The truth has never been as interesting as the mystery.
"(difficult title I must say, as we say in Sweden "ogooglebar" almost)"
Non-googable...?
Impossible!
hahahahhaha....yeah, south korean titles drives me mad sometimes.
"Children... is both a very straightforward AND complex character study. Part good old murder mystery, part drama about obsession, part a criticial view on media's behaviour."
It´s a found footage film as well...?
"But hell, it's still a great movie. I love how things are built up, often very powerful - just to make us wake up in the end, feeling the carpet of safety pulled from under our feet, and we're back on zero again. It's rarely you see this in American - or even European - cinema."
But when it happens.....it´s usually a welcomed feeling.
"I'm a softie and towards the end I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I don't like being emotional about movies. It's an illusion. It's not real, it's just emotional porn that will fool us we still can feel something."
But the best kind of cinema gets us that emotionally involved.......everytime.
"It never really works doing this in Sweden, with red houses and green forests - it takes away the haunted quality of the stories. Everything feels cleaner and more... polished."
No, I definetely think it´s possibility someone could do it, someday....
"There's something special with South Korean cinema. I think it's the emotional quality of the scripts."
Well, some south korean films are good, but I think some are very overhyped.
Great review and thanks, never heard of this before.
Posted by: Megatron | June 23, 2013 at 14:44