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Tell Me SomethingRating:
Release Date: 14 May, 2002 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: |
Tell Me Something Reviews
I'm convinced!
Tell Me Something gets off the starting block with a series of grizzly discoveries. Dismembered bodies are being dropped off around Seoul on a rainy night. When Detective Jo (Han Suk-kyu) and his partner Detective Oh (Jang Han-seong) are called in to handle the case, they can hardly imagine what they're stepping into. Shortly after meeting with the Medical Examiner, the detectives discover that the body parts found do not belong to one particular corpse. In short order, another round of corpses turn up (in some pretty strange places) and Detectives Jo and Ho put together a special team, on order from the police commissioner, to catch this serial killer, who's victims seem to be connected to the daughter of a famous Korean artist. Her name is Chae Su-yeon (Shim Eun-ha). Su-yeon and her roommate Seungmin (Jung-ah Yum; H, Tale of Two Sisters) are soon under the protection & watchful eye of the police, with Su-yeon being taken into protective custody when a new boyfriend is (partially) found after a night out with Su-yeon. Things get more complicated when Detective Jo finds himself developing feelings for Su-yeon. Her quiet, guarded manner forces Detective Jo to comb through her entire life, and make Su-yeon relive a past she would rather forget, to find connections with people she has known and the murders. Su-yeon soon tires of the interviewing and questioning and refuses to talk anymore. She returns to her home. The list of suspects grows... The murderer gets aggressive...
Firstly, I want to address/refute the plot hole factor. There is a fairly obvious jump that needs to be made concerning Detective Ho and an integral part of the investigation. Something that was most likely cut for continuity reasons or time constraints concerning Detective Ho making the connection between the killer and a certain apartment, is more or less overblown. By itself, it may stick out, but due to the film's complex story-line and fully realized characters it's an easy jump to make, even after a few viewings. I'll wager that it goes unnoticed, even after multiple viewings.
There's also said to be "motivation issues" with a character or two, but again, any reasonable viewer can make the connections, as they're deftly handled through a short flashback sequence near the end and an overall impressive screenplay. Besides, it's not like Tell Me Something is a docudrama. The film's revelation stands firm with what precedes it, no question in my mind. The fact that Tell Me Something can lay everything on the table and allow us to participate, makes the ending more dynamic and powerful. Yet it challenges us to choose our suspect and work it out for ourselves as we watch, speaks volumes. The obvious choice is most certainly the right one, veteran crime & mystery fans will know what's what right away. Good 'ol Occam's Razor.
Although this slow-burner (Runtime: 118 min) is essentially a movie that "tells you something" and then tries to dissuade you with oh so much powerful gore and an intense dramatic elements. It's definitely made in a Hollywood-esque way and was a smash hit for S. Korean Film in 1999. Killer cinematography adds whole new dimensions to the film; bright, airy days & damp, inky nights. Add the powerful, ethereal humming from Enya's "Boadicea" as well as tunes from Nick Cave and the bad Seeds and Placebo (who's album cover makes its way into the film), and Yoon-Hyun Chang's mysterious, murderous world comes alive. On the inside it's a gruesome, brutal crime-thriller. On the outside, it's a stylish, bizarre, almost arty film noir. A must see in any event.
Didn't get it... but liked it anyhow
What a confusing film. It starts like a detective story and sort of stays like that, but I was pretty baffled by the logic of this film. The movie opens with a murder scene and personal insights in the life of an investigator who is in trouble due to police questions regarding the huge amount of money he couldn't have and has spent for the cure of his mother who finally had passed away anyway. The movie then switches to a new case, that of several body parts being packed into bags around town. The victims legs and arms had been exchanged, like the arms of victim nr. 1 are now with nr. 3 whose legs are in the bag of victim nr. 2 and so on. Turns out to be one of those "murderer playing puzzle" movies. The victims couldn't be identified because the finger berries and stuff had been removed, with the exception of one, having dental stuff in his mouth. They identify the guy by dental stuff in his mouth and what follows next can only be due to false translation as it leads them to a name of a woman who is still alive and introduced as a lover of each victim, she had been engaged to every single one during the same time period somewhen in the past. How can the dental stuff in a male victim's mouth lead to the identification of a female, living lover? As this gets not explained I'm sure it's a translation problem because the movie is a police thriller, no psycho stuff like "Jacobb's ladder" or so. So while I was extremly curious how they'd find the murderer step by step, those steps just didn't make any sense at all, they seemed even 'wrong'. They should have identified the victim and then found a lead to the woman, but no, it goes like "We know now the name of one victim, it's *a female name*", but in the next scene, they're talking to that woman who is staring at the dead victim with the dental stuff in the mouth. A detail maybe, but this sort of film is all about investigation, that's where the thrill is. So I enjoyed watchting the movie with the characters and stuff, but at the core of it, the investigation stry doesnt work at all.
However, it's thrilling and the conclusion is good too. I just had no chance following the way to that conclusion. As I said, there are holes of logic. Will watch the film in original with subtitles soon. Maybe it's just an extremly weak translation (into german)
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