Memento Mori DVD Review:

Memento Mori, which means “remember the dead”, is not a horror film. Despite all the hopes a viewer may have of seeing the next Asian horror film which will soon be ripped off and made in the States, this film is a subtle thriller which deals more with issues of loneliness, heartbreak, and suicide than it does with any horror. Even the final scene, which is reminiscent of Carrie, is creepy but never scary. As long as that is understood before watching the film, viewers will have a better chance of appreciating this film.

When schoolgirl Min-Ah finds a diary shared by two of her classmates, she discovers that they actually had a secret lesbian affair. Things are complicated even further as she discovers that the relationship has ended, and subsequently one of the girls dies from either falling, jumping, or being pushed from the rooftop of the school. Although this is horrific to the young girls, school continues on as normal, although there doesn’t seem to be much order to begin with at this particular estrogen influenced school.

Much of the film relies upon flashbacks of the relationship between Hyo-shin (Park Ye-jin) and Shi-eun (Lee Young-jin), which can be confusing at times. Often the past and the present seem to blur, making the story somewhat difficult to follow. The pacing also begins quite slowly, but as the film reaches its climax things begin to pick up rapidly.

Directors Tae-yong Kim and Kyu-dong Min seem to have more to say about the issues of homosexuality and suicide than they care about horror. The drama between the girls deciding to go public, and the male teacher who also is having an affair with one of the girls is what moves the film, only briefly using any element familiar to the horror genre. The last scene begins to fall into more traditional territory for horror, but even this seems a little different. The force of terror is not a monster or killer ghost, but simply a heartbroken young girl whose spirit still seems lost.

Some of the most powerful scenes of the film seem to come from the school structure which the entire film takes place within. There are rather direct statements made about the competency and moral attributes of the teachers. They are shown to be weak, aggressive, and often stupid. The girls seem to be running the school and terrorizing each other as well. I was more interested in this as a subject for the film rather than any of the ghost business.

The Memento Mori DVD contains a few key special features including a behind the scenes look at the making of the film and a photo gallery. There is also the added bonus of having a large collection of trailers of other Tartan Asia Extreme releases. Oldboy is a trailer which I must watch every time I see it is on a DVD, as it still remains one of the best films of the year.



Ryan Izay