Tell Me Something (1999)

Went to the ICA to see this Korean serial killer flick whose title in Korean is "Telmisseomding" -- whether this means anything or is a phonetic transcription of the English title is a mystery, since there was nothing whatsoever to link the action to English -- French yes, English no.  Anyhow that's by the by, albeit weird.  The story concerns a slightly disgraced cop who is put in charge of a murder investigation where the killer leaves body parts in lashings of blood in black plastic sacks -- however not all the parts come from the same body.  That part of it was very gory indeed which somehow didn't quite sit with the atmospheric filming -- it seems to rain in thick sheets as much in Korea as it does in Kurosawa's Japan.  The film was well made and well-cast but too long in its leisurely exposition and probably had one twist too many at the end.  Yes, having twigged the mystery to my satisfaction, this viewer then was thrown off balance by having an alternate solution presented in the closing minutes -- which if one thought back on what one had seen before didn't quite wash.  Nevertheless, an interesting failure.