planktonrules Review of Memento Mori

Memento Mori (1999)

pretty darn confusing and the film should have stuck to one genre

[3/10 · 10 July 2006]

I am apparently one of the few dissenting voices here. While I liked some aspects of the movie, I also found it to be VERY confusing and disjoint due to the odd style in which the film was constructed. In addition, it was hard to know exactly what the point was of the movie. Was it a horror film? It COULD have been a CARRIE-like film about an outcast seeking revenge after death (that would have been so cool). Was it a coming of age film? The relationships between the girls were interesting but then the film changed direction so often it was hard to follow the individual stories. Was it a film about lesbianism and betrayal? It seemed like it wanted to be in places, but then it abruptly changed. Really, the film's message was so muddled, it was as if someone took two different films and just randomly glued portions of them together. I would have loved if the film had just stayed focused! And while I know it is supposed to be a Korean cult flick, I think it did a poor job on all levels. Just because a film is a cult film doesn't mean it's necessarily a good one or without many problems that could be eliminated with a good editing.