A blockbuster hit in its native country, South Korea's answer to Se7en is not for the squeamish, and may well do for garbage bags what Psycho did for showers. In Chang Yoon-Hyun 's stylistic police procedural, a weary detective struggling with the recent death of his mother (and being suspected of graft in his professional work) is called upon to investigate a spate of gruesome murders, in which the killer dismembers the victims and deposits odd body parts in garbage bags placed throughout the city (in one of the film's most horrific scenes, a mischievous boy rams one of these bags with a shopping cart, spilling its grisly, blood-soaked contents). In a romantic subplot, the detective finds himself giving in to his basic instincts when he becomes drawn to a woman (Shim Eun-ha, reportedly South Korea's biggest female star) who was romantically linked with the victims. While covering old territory, this thriller benefits from a fresh, foreign perspective on a genre Hollywood has done to death. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)
Tell Me Something
Kino, 116 min., in Korean w/English subtitles, R, VHS: $49.95, DVD: $29.95 Volume 17, Issue 5
Tell Me Something
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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