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Confession of Murder (Blu-ray Review)

In Korea, murder has a statute of limitations and the time is up on a series of brutal slayings that left Lt. Choi (Jae-yeong Jeong) a broken and obsessed man, with a scarred face from their one encounter. Now, a handsome and beguiling young man has come forward, taking credit for the crimes. As the confessed-killer woos media and wins fans, Choi’s rage spins out of control. Is he the killer? Can justice ever be served? 

 

Film 

Detective Choi is on the tail or a serial killer who has killed 10 women so far. The year is 1990 and the killings have been going since 1986. After his final encounter with the killer everything goes dark. For the next 17 years there is nothing but silence until the serial killer makes his first public appearance. According to the law in place the statue of limitations on murder has a 17-year time limit after that the killer cannot be prosecuted for those murders. Enter: Lee Doo-sok. The handsome young man was born to play it up in front of the camera and that’s exactly what he does. In this incarnation of South Korea, which feels very disconnected and almost set in the near future, the citizenry is obsessed with what the media spoon-feeds them. Lee Doo-sok uses this to his advantage and proceeds to plug his new book that may shed some light on the killings.

In essence it’s pretty much turned into an “America Idol” of sorts where public opinion is swayed by the charms of a killer and the media enablers. Detective Choi cannot let this go and tries to dig deeper into the mystery of why this “self-confessed” serial killer would want to come out and admit his crimes all these many years later. Choi wants to know what the ulterior motive is. Well, both men will also have to contend with the victim’s families as they also have the resources to set off of on their plans of revenge.

Confession of Murder has a very cool storyline that is enhanced by some kinetic scenes of violence and some scenes of ultra dark black comedy. For a second there I thought I was watching a film by Joon-ho Bong (Mother, The Host), because those films also deal with heavy subjects of death, murder, and chaos, with a dash of ultra dark humor. Confession of Murder did, as well. The opening scene of Confession of Murder rivals the foot chase in Se7en, with some obvious enhancements. The brutality is not lost on this. The back and forth dialogue sequences between our two leads is very engaging, cold, methodical, and at time quite funny. Some scenes with Lee Doo-sok and the way some of his fans and media interact with him are also quite funny. Murder is a serious subject but for a media obsessed public they really don’t care and their apathy tends to show. Lee Doo-sok feeds off of this making the public his for manipulating and Choi and law enforcement seem like the real bad guys.

Going into Confession of Murder I really did not know what to expect, because the trailer made it seem more like a straight-up thriller. Well, when the opening sequence kicks it into high gear, I stayed planted and went along with for the ride. Outside of ONE action set-piece involving a freeway car chase that played for awkward laughs the action in Confession of Murder is pretty brutal and done well. It’s a film with style and substance, and honestly, some of the reveals and plot-twists were hard to spot until the actually happened. I appreciated this; because it doesn’t take me long to figure out complicated twists in films.

The movie is a hearty one clocking in at a solid 2-hours but if you’re taken hold from the opening sequence then you will be in for a wild ride. I would also say that if you can go unaffected by the freeway chase scene you will be in for a treat as things heat up soon thereafter. Confessions of Murder is one of the better Asian imports that I have seen this year. It’s worth seeking out!

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Clarity/Detail: The Blu-ray of Murder has above average video. Contrast and sharpness levels don’t seem to have been tinkered with and looks natural most of the time. Grain levels remain steady and free from fluctuations.

Depth: There’s an almost Se7en like quality to he aesthetic of Murder without treading over the former’s palette, with the exception of the latter’s hyper violence. Confession of Murder pulls you in with its very morose – hyper real styling’s.

Black Levels: Darkness reigns on Confession of Murder from the opening sequences to its climatic finale and I have to say that outside of a few minor instances of minor crush it does a great job reproducing high quality black levels.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is strong with this one. Colors tend to pop out during daylight exteriors before dulling back out during scenes of violence, rain, and interiors. Banding was not a problem either.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are even and depending on what character is onscreen they seem most appropriate. Our lead is a gritty detective who is scarred up and our villain has a very smooth complexion. The transfer handles this very well.

Noise/Artifacts: I only detected some minor intrusion during certain scenes of obvious CGI – mainly during the highway chase – nothing major, though.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): Korean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Korean Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: Here is a near-reference audio track that should satisfy those that are aching for a smack across the senses. Confession of Murder is a police procedural action film rolled up into one and the lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 hits all of its marks between the eyes.

Low Frequency Extension: There is a lot of low-level deep bass throughout Confession of Murder that will satisfy the most critical of LFE advocates. Present company included.

Surround Sound Presentation: The surround sound channels are very active during action sequences and stay active during the many scenes of media frenzy. All of this without messing with the front sound stage.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are strong and never muffle.

Extras

These so-called extras run at about 10 minutes total, give or take 30 seconds.

• Behind the Scenes (HD, 4:59) – This is a very short making-of featurette with some fly-on-the-wall footage.
• Interviews (HD, 3:21 & 1:56, respectively) – Two very short interviews with our main actors as they talk about what they had to endure on a most difficult film shoot. These two interviews are cool and candid.
• Trailer (HD, 1:30) – Here is the theatrical trailer for Confession of Murder presented in high definition.

 

Summary 

Confession of Murder had me in its grips until the very end. The Action is hyper kinetic, brutal, and the elements of black comedy spread out through the film are perfect. The Blu-ray has very strong video and audio specs but the extras drag the rating down a bit. Make no mistake, though, Confession of Murder is very freakin’ highly recommended!

 

Order Confession of Murder on Blu-ray!