Heugsuseon

Korea's "Last Witness" is a very well done Thriller / Drama with a young cop investigating a murder. The background of the crime goes way back to 1952 when 150 000 North Korean POWs were imprisoned on Geoje Island. I don't want to reveal more because the rather complex and interesting story reveals layer after layer in a well done fashion.

However, the story wasn't the component that struck me the most about "Last Witness". Also, it wasn't the performances - which were good but nothing too special. No, it was the camera work and the emotion of the film. The images in the movie are exceptional. Some moody, some dark, some humid, some strange, some nostalgic, some bloody. There's an amazing set of imagery.

And there's the emotion. There are many scenes where the director tries to force emotion by applying a lot of pathos to a scene (mainly by slow motion). That doesn't really work. But at the end, I was in tears, because of what happened with the two main supporting characters Hwang-seok and Ji-hye. It's really touching. All you learn before finally pays off.

In the end, I like to be generous and rate it not 7 (to which it is rather close), but

8/10

The Korean War and the resulting conflict between the North and the South served as background for many great South Korean films (JSA, Brotherhood, Silmido), but unfortunately "The last Witness" does not belong to this category.

It has an interesting, dramatic story that combines the horror of North Korean POWs trying to escape in the early 1950s and a present-day police investigation of two murders, but the film and its characters left me cold. While the investigation with its many clues and revelations is entertaining to watch, the flashback sequences are too bland and rushed and lack any depth to let the viewer develop any bond with the two main characters.

It also does not help that the make-up department was obviously not up to the task or maybe too lazy, because almost all the actors looked completely unconvincing playing old people in their 70s or 80s, which was a major distraction.

This film does have some nice visuals and even mildly suspenseful scenes, but overall it was rather disappointing. The contrived and pathetic ending in particular was so kitschy, even the cheesiest Hollywood film wouldn't go that far.

While this film's "two movies in one" structure has a lot of potential, it is probably the main reason the movie doesn't come off better. It spreads itself too thin, and ends up being only sporadically effective. The present-days police story segments are rather bland; the investigative process isn't handled with much (for lack of a better word) flair, and Detective Oh, other than unexplored hints of "cop on the edge" syndrome, isn't much more than a handsome tough guy. Time that could've been used on character or plot, or excised completely to keep up the pace, is used on well-executed but pointless action scenes involving apprehending characters whose involvement is only tangential. The flashback scenes fare somewhat better as they aren't something we've seen a million times, and are also responsible for the film's highlight, an escape from a prison camp. It also seems to be the part the director was most interested in, given how much flashier it is than anything before or after it. One wishes that Bae had taken as much care with scenes in offices and cars as he did with scenes about people being cut down. Unfortunately, the flashbacks overall are too rushed to really flesh out the characters, and tend to wallow in slightly excessive melodrama, which isn't helped by the not-bad but utterly generic score. The resolution is actually fairly surprising, and could've been quite dramatic. Unfortunately, the director's poor choices in use of screen time makes what could've been a very satisfying and emotional resolution fairly flat. The final scene also pushes credibility too far in the name of melodrama, making it seem ridiculous. That's not to say it's a terrible movie. Only a few parts stand out as really hitting the wrong notes. However, in this case the whole is less than the sum of its parts, because they aren't assembled properly. It's an ambitious project and a good try at something different, but it just didn't quite work for me as a whole either viscerally or emotionally.

A man is found murdered in a river and a young detective Oh (Lee Jung-jae) is put on the case. The clues lead him to Geoje Island, a location for a prisoners of war camp after the Korean War. And slowly the tale of political prisoners, dirty soldiers and two star- crossed lovers starts to unveil.

Like most Korean thrillers, the film is amazingly dark both in tone and in visual style. Urban grittiness at its worst. Or best, depending on your tastes. What elevates this particular thriller above its peers is its central mystery, which is apparently at least somewhat based on a true crime case. The details and characters are both oddly fitting and grounded in reality, especially the PoW events, yet outlandish and weird enough to keep it interesting and lend it this strange aura of plausibility.

That being said, some of the events are convoluted and the whole film, had it been entirely fictional, would likely have been a bit more streamlined. Not all of the players in the story are properly introduced or focused on, though the main cast is very, very good. Likewise, the action scenes are decent, but feel a bit downplayed, compared to usual Korean norms – once again, most likely due to the want to stick to real events.

Overall a decent film and one of the most realistic Korean films I've seen. Also one of the best Korean thrillers. Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for something with an edge.