Somewhere in
here was the potential for a really good movie, but thanks to an uneven
filmmaking that bounces between realism and comically cartoonish action it
becomes difficult to feel much gravity in the film’s final twists. An action
film which embellishes human abilities can be easily forgiven, but Confession of a Murder is not an action
film despite a few high octane moments. This is more of a suspense film,
hinging all of the action on the mystery at the center of the narrative. The
extreme coincidences tying all of the film’s melodrama together requires
suspension of disbelief enough, leaving no room for acceptance of the slapstick
style of action contained in one of the film’s largest chase sequences.
The film opens
with a chase sequence, dropping us into the narrative long after the
significant plot twists have altered the personality of the protagonist,
Detective Choi (Jae-yeong Jeong). As the lead detective investigating a
mysterious serial killer, Choi is left devastated by a failed opportunity to
stop the murderer. Fifteen years later he still has not forgiven himself for
this failure, shamefully refusing to have the scars remaining from his
encounter removed. When the statute of limitation expires on the crimes, a
young man named Du-seok Lee (Won-young Choi) comes forward with a book
describing all of the infamous murders. Unable to arrest him, Detective Choi
comes forward to attempt to prove him a liar. Soon it is uncertain whether the
man confessing to the murder actually did the killing, though this is of no
consequence to the grieving family members longing for revenge.
Confession of a Murder is the narrative
feature film debut of Byeong-gil Jeong (Byung-gil Jung), whose debut as a
director was a documentary about Korean stunt men. This somehow makes the
overabundance of computerized effects for the largest sequence in the film even
more disappointing, as is the unevenness of Jeong’s direction. There are some
great sequences mixed in with disappointing ones, all constructed first in the
director’s own screenplay. Perhaps it was a case of too much too soon for
Jeong, but there is inconsistency in Confession
of a Murder from one sequence to the next. Even a few clever twists and
some exciting action sequences can’t make up for the glaring errors in the
film, but this just means there is room for improvement in Jeong’s next
feature.
The Blu-ray
release includes a behind-the-scenes featurette, as well as some cast/crew
interviews and a trailer. The high definition presentation of the film may help
to soften the fallacy of many computer generated special effects, but not
enough to make them anywhere close to believable.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5.5/10
Special Features: 4.5/10
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