2009: Lost Memories (2002)

Lack of good storyline.

just watch it!

Brilliant and touching

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Well, no actually I wasn't. Cutting room floor. I was teaching English in Korea at the time and somehow a group of us foreign teachers were asked if we wanted to be extras in a movie, so we said what the heck. We were driven out to the set which was on the same studio lot that the fake Panmunjom set from "JSA" was on. They put us in tuxedo's and we were in the art gallery where the commando's came down through the skylight and machine gunned everybody. Then later in the day they came up to me and said "your scene is now". I was like "huh?" Basically what they had me do was admire a large necklace hanging in a display case and say "it's very beautiful, what is it?" Kinda dumb, I know, but I was just doing what I was told. Then after they filmed it a few times (using a camera on a track which looked through the case from the rear), they told me they needed to get the audio so they could dub it over my lips so to speak. I repeated it several times into the Mic but they kept getting me to do it again and again because the pacing was off. And I guess in the end it just didn't fit, or else was one of those superfluous little scenes that they filmed several of and then decide which ones suit the flow of the scene. My movie career died before it began. :)

2009: Lost Memories has a lot of promise. A sci-fi action/mystery (mild on the sci-fi) set in an alternate universe where Japan sides with the Allies during World War II, Corea never gained independence from Japan and becomes part of the empire. Pretty cool setting, no? In fact, the first half of the movie, despite the occasional logical flub and inconsistency, manages to be quite interesting. And then you hit the midway mark and the film crashes into mindless melodrama and sinks to the point where even its otherwise gorgeous action sequences can't save it.But, it is quite a pretty film. Lots of wonderfully shot scenes grace this film, even if you can see strong traces of John Woo present in many of them. But this picture is cleaner and slicker than Woo's earlier productions. The sets and costumes are wonderful. The lighting and editing however does run a little heavy-handed. And in fact, the film's preoccupation with aesthetics, instead of strengthening its story, sinks the film. There's also a bit of a mood-killing plot twist halfway through the film as well, which really doesn't help.In terms of lighting, the film is shot dark and while it definitely makes things seem fairly "cool", at the same time, everything is so awash in blues most of the time that it's hard to keep believing in it. It tries a little too hard to be cool. There's also the obnoxious abuse of slow-motion and extreme close-up reaction shots. Honestly, during an action sequence, I really don't want to see 15-30 second bursts of watching as characters react to other insignificant characters' deaths. It frustrated me to no end. And then there's the logical jumps. Not only is one character's story not tied up, but it conflicts with itself logically and the film probably would have been helped having removed that character altogether.Because the film couldn't shore up its story and resorted to overenthusiastic melodrama and manipulation, it went from being quite interesting to a bit of a chore. I give it credit for great aesthetics and premise, even if in the end the story becomes chaotic and inconsistent, but the degree of the films abuse of melodrama to substitute for story keeps it from staying afloat. People that can get past story and enjoy the slick presentation and action, might enjoy this. Everyone else should consider giving it a pass. 6/10 (purely on the merits of its aesthetics and premise).

This movie has a semi interesting plot. Not very new or original, neither very bad or too obvious. As usual when it comes to South Korean popular movie industry the craftsmanship is next to flawless. The lighting and the scenery are beautiful, the soundtrack is very sentimental and bordering to über-cheese but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with the slightest experience in Asian movies. The acting is also good though the English dub doesn't seem to even try to do any lip sync and brings down the overall impression. The special effects are functional but not really that spectacular. Also, the action scenes have way to much slow motion for my taste. Though, I guess this is made in order to boost the sense of patriotism. And, this is where I have my main criticism.It contains about all components of the propaganda the nationalistic parts of South Korean society likes to flatter itself with. Embarrassingly obvious, even more than usual. North and South Korea are united because they really are brothers. No Korean would harm another Korean. Japan is an enemy, has always been and will always be. Japanese people are not to be trusted, not even those you consider close friends. The Korean on the other hand are brave and self sacrificing with a pure heart. The key to the entire plot comes from the superior ancient culture and system of worship from the Korean peninsula. There are so many subtle details that are being pushed in that mean really a lot if you have an understanding of Korean culture, like the Korean main character has become so Japanese he doesn't even eat Kimchi (!).I agree that the patriotism is so much an undisputed part of Korean culture even today that it should not come as a surprise, and I have enough experience of South Korea to be very aware of this when watching this movie. The problem here is that this script is so saturated with nationalistic propaganda that I feel it being written for this very purpose. It can sometimes lead to (umm...) interesting results, though seldom to properly good ones. It's the equivalent of the American action movie where all baddies have a "foreign" accent, smoke cigarettes and the bad guy boss has a hint of latent homosexuality. Just translate those components into Korean values. Enjoy it as no-brainer entertainment for killing some time, or more interestingly for understanding the components of Korean nationalism and the grudge toward Japan in a commercial movie production. If you want to see a really good Korean movie, for there are lots of them, pick another one.

An interesting opening and superb ending make up for a few less than stellar plot transitions as Lost Memories is one Action Drama that I won't soon forget. The music really complements this film and allows the slow motion sequences to make an impact. As for action its fairly standard and the acting is good but not award caliber. A solid Action drama with a few brief Science Fiction moments. Mixing Both Japanese (mostly the first half) and Korean the rest of the way, Lost Memories2009 is amongst a growing wave of multicultural/national Pan Asian films that could find an audience outside of Asia with a bit more exposure.If a 100 is Perfect 81/100