[HanCinema's Film Review] "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" + DVD Giveaway

The year is 1997. Pearson (played by Jang Keun-suk) and Alex (played by Shin Seung-hwan) are a couple of idiot teenagers talking tough at a Burger King in Itaewon. The conversation takes on horrific proportions when one of these two gets the bright idea to act all cool in a manner befitting Dostoyevsky, except without the self-awareness. Prosecutor Park (played by Jung Jin-young) is thus left with a dilemma- which of the two idiot teenagers actually committed the abhorrent, pointless crime?

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As a legal procedural "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" is mired in the concept of reasonable doubt. It's known without question that either Pearson or Alex committed the crime, but it's impossible to know for sure which one did so because they were both in the room when it happened. Pearson has a creepy sociopathic loner vibe, whereas Alex doth protest too much. While compelling arguments can be made that either is the criminal, only one could have done the stabbing.

Ironically it's Prosecutor Park's sense of mercy that has the most dramatic tension in this regard. It's often pointed out to him that he could just charge both simultaneously in a conspiracy charge, but Prosecutor Park is too much of a straight shooter to want to risk jailing an innocent person unnecessarily. In a more standard legal procedural "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" would be the story of how Prosecutor Park succeeds in spite of all adversity.

In actuality, "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" is based very closely on real life events, and this story didn't have an uplifting ending or execution. The ambiguity of the evidence and the absurdity of the overall legal proceedings are a constant plot point. While Prosecutor Park tries to hit a breakthrough in the case a few times by analyzing certain story elements from a new perspective, his efforts inevitably end in failure.

"The Case of Itaewon Homicide" is, in this sense, a story about the persistence of memory. What really happened in the bathroom often ends up being implied as literally unknowable. The murder was committed in a matter of seconds- Pearson and Alex might know who did the actual stabbing. However, their rationalizations are such that it seems fairly obvious that neither one of them feel much guilt or shock about what happened. Even knowing that only one of them did the actual stabbing, it's quite difficult to hold both teenagers blameless for such a depraved and senseless act.

For those looking for a dramatic legal thriller with more epic pretensions, I do need to note that "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" doesn't quite cut the mustard. In part this is because of the senselessness of the original case, and the general impossibility of obtaining definite answers on these kinds of questions in real life. If Prosecutor Park doesn't know what he was supposed to learn, how could we?

Even so this all still makes for engaging thematic material. "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" was compelling enough as film to prompt public inquiries into the original case. Last month one of the (now adult) teenagers profiled in this movie was extradited to South Korea to stand trial. Will justice be done? Once again, the answer to that is just, well, who knows?

Review by William Schwartz

"The Case of Itaewon Homicide" is directed by Hong Ki-seon and features Jung Jin-young, Jang Keun-suk, Shin Seung-hwan, Oh Gwang-rok and Ko Chang-seok.

 

The Case of Itaewon Homicide DVD