Memoir of a Murderer (살인자의 기억법)

Kim Byung-su 's Journal

Who am I?

Prosecutor Kim Min-je.

Good.

Then, let's see. Since your mind is clear,

let's get started.

Without leaving out a single detail of your life,

tell me everything that you remember.

As you wrote in your journal.

Like a confession.

Let's start from here.

September 8.

The day you went to the police station.

- Salute! - Yup.

Look who's here again.

Did you forget where you live again?

- Help him with the bag. - Of course.

- You can give that to me. - Take it easy.

Then do you know me'?

What's my name?

An...

An... Byung...

Don't remember. Who are you?

That feels bad.

What's with the puppy?

He brought it.

Dad!

You okay?

You put your shoes on wrong feet again

like a child.

Are you alright?

I was diagnosed with dementia 3 months ago.

The doctor said,

recent memories will flicker like traffic lights,

and all memories will fade in time.

We're not sure what stage it's at.

The hippocampus has shrunk, so Alzheimer's progressing too.

Can the symptoms stop?

They can be slowed down, but they can't be stopped.

Try to hold onto the memories.

Alright...

Whoa... You had a brain surgery after an accident.

We'll have to do a full medical checkup,

but this could due to hemorrhage from that or an aftereffect.

A body of a woman in her 20s was found in Kanghwa City today.

This is the 2nd murder case in the city after a high school girl

was found dead last month.

The police stated that both bodies share similarities,

and are open to the possibility of a new serial killing case.

The body was inside a luggage and thrown away in this mud flat.

The victim is identifed as a 20-year old resident of Kanghwa,

and much like the last victim,

her body was wrapped in plastic wrap,

and bruises were found on her neck and wrists.

It's getting dark, Where are you going?

I told you, it's my friend's birthday.

There was a murder in the next town.

Don't worry. Careful of the stove, okay?

Murder isn't all that common.

But it can be, Eun-hee.

Because I am a murderer.

Kim Byung-su

The password is incorrect.

Memory

Journal

Autumn, 1971, father returned home.

When I opened the door...

My white shoe

was covered in kimchi sauce...

Byung-su.

Shouldn't you greet your dear father?

Byung-su.

Honey, don't do this.

At attention!

At attention!

At attention!

His slap was still first rate.

Byung-su!

Byung-su.

Byung-su.

Byung-su.

Alright, boy.

Let me give you a proper beating today.

It was the look of a beast.

My sister shook in fear.

Curfew in effect!

I trembled all night after burying the body.

But the day after, and the day after,

no one came to arrest me.

And peace found its way to our home.

I realized then that obligatory murder

exists in the world.

I continued to kill after that day.

Seafood merchant who beat his family everyday.

That wasn't murder.

Let's call it 'cleansing.'

There are plenty of people who deserved to die,

and I began to cleanse them from this world.

For swallowing a diamond ring, she beat her dog to death,

and brought it to me to cut its belly open.

Alcoholic homeless man who took in runaways

and used them as slaves.

Loanshark who led an entire family to their demise.

None of them deserved to exist in this world.

Most of the trash I collected are buried in this bamboo grove.

Cleansing... Trash...

It sounds more like crime fiction than a journal.

How many did you kill then?

I didn't just kill.

If you think about it, I saved lives.

Lives of men and animals, what's the difference?

I'm glad I can still work even with dementia.

30 years of muscle memory won't just fade away.

It's alright, kitty.

Good, very good.

I had forgotten about the morning injection.

Michelle died after 3 anticancer injections.

- Mom! - Let go!

- Don't do this! - Michelle!

- Please, mom! - Let go!

Don't do this!

Michelle...

That's the last straw.

I ate noodles for dinner.

I took dementia pills too.

Go to poetry lecture at Community Center at 7.

'The knife pierces through the bones and muscles.'

'Crimson blood splatters on my chest.'

Eun-hee said poetry is good for dementia and signed me up.

But it's nauseating.

People don't know what his deal is,

but he gets involved with these cougars.

The old me would've buried him already.

Mr. Kim?

You've never learned poetry before?

Does it require schooling?

Of course not.

Early bad habits could ruin your wording.

It's perfect as is.

With raw language and

imagination of death,

you're showing futility of life.

With acute choice of words.

Like so, poetry cannot be learned.

Like Mr. Kim,

the poet captures language

and kills it like an experienced killer.

By the way, Mr. Kim.

Have you ever killed someone?

Right. My apologies.

I was being funny!

Funny?

According to Eun-hee, I don't exhibit emotion.

To be concise, I actually don't have emotions.

But I do react to humor.

Timing's the problem.

Mr. Kim! Wait!

Mr. Kim!

Hello, my name is Jo Yun-ju.

Aren't you Mr. Kim Byung-su?

I loved your poetry today.

I was so moved.

Especially your metaphor for death in the poetry...

What's a metaphor?

Come on, sir, you know what it is.

It's a comparison.

It's not a comparison.

What?

It was a life story.

You're such a funny man.

I'm funny?

Should I skin you too?

Skin me...

It was a vulgar laugh.

This world is still overflowing with trash,

but regrettably, I can't kill anymore.

Sir, how about tea?

17 years ago, I killed for the last time.

I don't remember why I killed her,

but after killing her,

I buried her in the grove and was on the way home.

The accident

must have caused this problem.

If murder is poetry, then child care is prose.

Daddy.

Raising a person

takes more effort than killing 10.

You're bleeding. What's wrong?

Maybe it was a good thing.

Dammit, it's happening again.

When the convulsion begins, I forget my way back.

Memories start to fade.

Are you okay?

That's a deer.

It appeared out of nowhere.

If it's okay with you, we can forget the collision.

Just in case, let's exchange contacts.

So that there's no misunderstanding later.

- I said it's okay. - No.

This was my fault, so send me the bill.