Yu Irie's Memoirs of a Murderer is based on the 2012 Korean film Confession of Murder, and is not to be confused with a 2017 Korean film called Memoir of a Murderer, which is about a serial killer with dementia.
This film's titular murderer killed five people shortly after the Kobe Earthquake of 1995, strangling his victims while forcing a loved one to watch helplessly. The killer disappears after the death of the fifth victim, and the crime remains unsolved for 22 years. Suddenly, a man named Masato Sonezaki (Tatsuya Fujiwara) appears, claiming to be the killer. He then takes the opportunity to launch a book detailing his murderous exploits. Because of a quirk in Japanese law and because of the timing of the last murder, the statute of limitations has expired and Sonezaki cannot be tried for his crimes, frustrating the families of the victims and detective Makimura (Hideaki Ito), who lost his partner thanks to the killer.
Even though it is an adaptation of a Korean film, Memoirs of a Murderer may resonate more with Japanese audiences thanks to real life being stranger than fiction: one recalls the sordid case of Issei Sagawa, who killed and ate his classmate in the eighties. Because of how the law operated back then, he was unable to be tried for his crimes and walked free, becoming a minor celebrity in the process. Memoirs of a Murderer's first half tackles the complex interplay between ethics in journalism, the strangeness of celebrity and the impact of media in our daily lives. Sonezaki gains a couple of rabid fans, while at the same time, people protest his freedom. Social media is abuzz with commentary and speculation. In these scenes, the crime feels distanced from the criminal, and the words of the man on the street seem to fail to see the wrongness in the murderous actions. Sonezaki comes off as a showman proud to show off his 'art'. His debut is gaudy and he knows it: his confession is an all out press conference complete with an over the top audiovisual presentation, and a book signing has models brandishing his work.
The film moves into a straight murder mystery near the end, as twists are revealed in increasingly over the top fashion. These developments slightly undermine the work done in the first half, as the true nature of Sonezaki's actions lead into something a bit more lurid, yet predictable. Nevertheless, director Yu Irie manages to squeeze out increasing levels of tension in these scenes, especially during the nail-biting third act. In the end, Memoirs of a Murderer is a wild rollercoaster ride of a film that makes interesting commentary on the media we consume and the people we worship.
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