The rise of Korean cinema has led many cross over actors to appear. Often they are from the ubiquitous TV soaps in South Korea. They often arrive via one and then are thrust into international attention via the other. One of these actors is Wi Ha-Jun, who is known currently for his THE SQUID GAME turn. Though many, like my wife as an example, know him from the soap world of hair up bad and hair down goodness. 2021’s MIDNIGHT sees him turn to the serial killer genre. A genre that has been populated by some of the great actors and directors of the region. Here he Plays to type as a rather dubious human sociopath called Do-Sik. He is stalking hearing impaired Kyung-mi (Ki-joo Jin), whose world of silence is anything but. He has been stalking their neighbourhood bumping off innocent girls and boys for thrills. Kyung-mi stands up to him and though he believes that her being deaf will make his murder easy, she proves to be up to the task. This creates a game of cut and slice to see who will win.
The obvious location of MIDNIGHT in the serial killer films genre realm can be seen immediately. That is often what anyone says about these films, if you have seen or read anything around them. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, MANHUNTER, MEMORIES OF A MURDER are all in here and are obvious examples of high points of the genre. Though I would argue that they would be even if the director never saw a frame of any of them for multiple reasons. Also the ability to extract tension, fear and desire, a good film maker knowns how to do these things.
This is where MIDNIGHT excels. What it does well it does very well. The poise and pose of a serial killer, their MO and the brutal logic is well documented and played enough to make it compelling. Kyung-mi silent world is cleverly explored and probed. Making it fell like films like HEAR NO EVIL in its use of the space and mind of its deaf protagonist. But the problem is it must return to type. The trappings of dispatch and death of serial murders have been well trodden. So also have they seen copious amounts of documents about them. The director takes note of some of this but has to sit on their hands here. Wi Ha-Jun plays the role to the max but cant disguise his own expectations that it will travel a well trodden route.
In defence of this average expectations point we find ourselves in, I would say that investing in the set might be rewarded by Kat Ellinger excellent coverage of South Korean cinemas murderous maze. The world knows of MEMORIES OF A MURDER but she lets us have a deeper bite of this tasty flesh morsel.
SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY
Limited Edition silver laminate O Card slipcase (First Print Run of 2000 Copies only) featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) | 1080p presentation on Blu-ray | Optional English subtitles | Brand new audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger | Brand new video essay on the history of Korean horror cinema by critic Travis Crawford | PLUS: Limited Edition Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (First Print Run of 2000 Copies only)
