Telmisseomding (1999)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Yoon-Hyun Chang

Writers:

Yoon-Hyun Chang (writer)
Eun-Ah In (writer)

Release Date:

13 marraskuu 1999 (South Korea)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror | Crime | Mystery

Plot:

In Seoul, parts not matching of severed copses of three men are found in cars and bags left in public spaces...

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Police | Internal Affairs | Bag | Telephone Call

Cast

Suk-kyu Han	...	Detective Cho
Eun-ha Shim	...	Chae Su-Yeon
Hang-Seon Jang	...	Detective Oh
Jung-ah Yum	...	Seungmin Oh
Seok-Hwan An
Cheol-Ho Park
Jun-Sang Yu	...	Kim Ki-yeon
Hwan-Jun Lee

Also Known As:

Tell Me Something (International: English title)
Jätesäkkimurhat (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Tell Me Somehting (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gruesome images, some language and nudity.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Germany:16 | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15

Company:

Koo & Cee Film

Soundtrack:

Jazz Suite No.2: Waltz II

Atmospheric But Routine

TELL ME SOMETHING is one of the few South Korean films to take a stab at the serial killer genre. The Japanese have been doing it for a while, but the Koreans haven't seemed particularly interested in the genre. TELL ME SOMETHING works in that it's incredibly atmospheric, with visuals that matches even Finch's SEVEN, the new benchmark for serial killer movies post SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

The one thing that sinks TELL ME SOMETHING is that it is rather routine, and more than once it falls into the same cliches that suffocates teen slasher films, in that characters act incredibly stupid and without reason. Also, the movie's mystery is a bit convoluted, and the ending seems almost irrelevant after all that's happened.

It's a good movie, with some very nice things to look at. The constantly falling rain will remind most people of SEVEN, and why not? TELL ME SOMETHING is basically a rehash of every American serial killer made in the '90s. Just because it's Korean doesn't make it anymore original, unfortunately.

6 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this film and reviews of other foreign movies)