What is your unconventional pick for greatest movie of all time?

For me, it's Memories of Murder. I think it's the definition of perfection.

I watched the film a few years ago and have been obsessed with it ever since (and became a Bong Joon Ho disciple immediately). Yet for years I've struggled to put into words just why I felt intuitively in its brilliance.

It hits this perfect blend of drama, thriller, and slapstick humor, in a way that on paper absolutely shouldn't work, but absolutely does. It's a tone which I've come to learn is a staple in Korean filmmaking.

Every character is cast brilliantly, and it showcases Song Kang-Ho at his absolute best.

There's subtlety oozing out of every shot, and the more I watch the more details I recognize and appreciate in camera placement, ensemble staging, blocking, etc.

The score is hauntingly beautiful, yet relatively sparingly used.

Francis Bacon once said, "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." And I think that describes Memories of Murder perfectly.

The fact that the real serial killer was identified and confessed in 2019, and watched the film himself, really ties the bow.

So that's my argument for the greatest film of all time.

What's yours?

Submitted May 11, 2022 at 08:09AM by cijdl584 https://ift.tt/ejun0Zf