Tell Me Something (1999)

Simply A Masterpiece

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

OK, OK I'll tell you. Pretentious. Predictable. Preposterous. Exhibit A: cop finds out his pretty but sulky witness has attempted suicide several times, turns around and leaves her alone in his flat with his one and only gun, then goes after a serial killer without any weapon, gets mauled in the process, survives the ordeal, chases the killer a second time, this time still without any weapon... And just when you think it can't get any dumber than this, well, that's exhibit A, and as Picard puts it, "Plenty of letters left in in the alphabet"A thinking person's movie? I suppose it could be. I suspect a lot of people who spend their working hours thinking actually like to switch off their brains when they come home after a hard thinking day's work.

I must be the last to realise that Korean cinema is simply the freshest, most exciting and challenging cinema being made anywhere today. "Tell Me Something" illustrates beautifully some of the ways in which this is true. Starting with the time-honoured police thriller format, the way in which the drama plays out couldn't be more different from your average excellent but formulaic episode of "The Closer" or "Without a Trace"; as in much Korean cinema, the presumption of intelligence in the viewer means that far from being walked through every plot point, you tread the lonely road of clues and suspicion by yourself. Doubtless other viewers will predict the plot points with superhuman speed...still, I enjoy the spectacle even when I'm mystified.It feels as though the director has gorged himself on the full gamut of cinema, taking in not only his own cinema but glossy but predictable Hollywood and glorious, violent Japanese cinema. There's nothing more refreshing than to see a structure you recognise, used to portray a world you don't. It gives new life to any old, tired story or scenario – better still when it's harsh and good-looking and violent and surprising, like this. Here's a very brief run-down: an artist's daughter, some lovers, some murders, dismemberment. Your guide through this murky world is Detective Cho (Suk-kyu Han), who stumbles along the policeman's dirty path, labouring under suspicion and dishonour. You learn that his impassive taciturnity conceals more complex emotions, and you accompany him as he unpicks a messy, bloody and tangled knot of relationships and lies, seeking redemption along the way.It's romantic at heart. Detective Cho reminds me of Dana Andrews' terse, detached detective McPherson, in Otto Preminger's haunting "Laura" of 1944. That tough character finds himself lifted by the aura created by the eponymous central character of Laura into an unfamiliar realm, falling in love with her as he begins to know her. The comparison ends there – "Tell Me Something" has a finale that suits very modern tastes. I'm knee deep in Dashiell Hammett at the moment, but this is really more James Ellroy territory. It's a bit gory for my taste, but not strictly speaking gratuitous, I think. Even if it were, it would still be engrossing and disturbing, crafted with care and with a fantastic soundtrack.For more Korean excellence try gripping thriller "Memories of Murder" or the exquisitely turned "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring". For other non-US excellence go for French TV policier "Engrenages" and Takeshi Kitano's unique Japanese gangster flick "Sonatine".

In a nutshell, if you've seen five average, gory suspense movies before, you've seen this one. By the end, you won't care.The movie has been described already in other posts, so I won't get into that. What I do want to stress are the horrible characters, and the buckets of clichés and plot devices.The movie starts out like any typical hack'em up suspense flick with moody music, quick edits, and lots of in-your-face gore, some plot, and then some odd characters -- the cast of suspects. These suspects are all acting totally wrong given the situation, and that is why we suspect them. We never find out why they are acting weird except for the actual killer. One suspect goes on behaving suspiciously and letting the cops think what they will, and it's never explained why. Another obvious suspect is totally ignored by the cops, and is even left alone with the woman who knew all the slashed-up victims.The police too, are stupid way beyond Keystone Cops. They follow leads into apartments, discover PIECES OF THE VICTIMS, and just hang around alone, poking through things without phoning for back-up, knowing the baddies could be back at any moment. This happens twice. Then, when attacked in a dark alley by the murderer in a car, while the murderer is threateningly -- but patiently -- gunning the engine in neutral apparently waiting for the cop to decide where to run, the cop runs straight for a fence, and the inevitable man-climbs-fence-while-chased-by-car scene, instead of calmly stepping back through the OPEN DOOR into the brick building he just came out of. He also neglects to take down the licence plate, or, apparently, to tell the rest of the police department to look for that car in the area. It shows up again under the APARTMENT BUILDING of the woman they're trying to protect.And the pathetic attempt at pathos. There's a scene where one guy is crying -- and i'm not making this up -- while passionately squeezing a handful of semi-digested peanuts.Nothing fits. There's no motive for the way the murderer is working. The police suddenly divine patterns of how the murderer tells the police who the next victim will be, and if you've got two brain cells to rub together, you know who's going to be marked for death next. The murderer gives away far too much information, as if wanting to be caught, but it doesn't play out that way at all.Positives. The acting by the main female lead was decent. There was nothing she personally could do about the script or the director, or the other actors. There's lots of blood, and other than the rubber arms, all the gory props are at least reasonably believable.The movie generally looked good. It was appealing, appropriate, and professionally done up in post production. The music was good, and I'd say some of it was a poor copy of the dramatic classical music in "Old Boy," but this movie was made first, so maybe it was the inspiring predecessor.Anyway, best avoided.

I mostly enjoyed this movie, but i felt that something must have been lost in the editing or subtitling because I always felt 10 minutes behind the action. Of course, i could be overly kind and this was due to poor writing.....This left me with several questions. Anyone have any answers????****SPOILERS AHEAD*****So, the floating body is that of the father, right?What is it floating in? Someone on another message board called it a shower...but it looked like a big tank in the middle of the living room. Was it there the whole time they were investigating the murders? If so, what was is portrayed as being every time the cops walked past it?In the Photograph: they were all holding something.... what was it? I could not make out the details on my TVMy thoughts are that the picture meant that all of the people in the picture participated in the killing of the father as some sort of group revenge lead by his daughter. Then I am thinking that the 2 women (or just one) killed all the guys; because they hated men and also because all the later victims knew about the murder of the father. Thoughts?But, then, I'm still not sure why seeing this photograph leads the cop to go back to the apartment where he discovers the floating body. In the photo, they are in front of where the body is found, but there must be some clue that there is a body there (that is to provide a reason the cop rushes back and promptly finds a body in the middle of a room he has been in dozens of times)...but I was thinking that i just couldn't see it on my TV. In other words, yes, the photo shows that they were in cahoots, but why go back to the apartment instead of tracking down the girl on her flight? Thoughts here?Thanks for any thoughts