Voice of a Murderer

Voice of a Murderer (Korean: 그놈 목소리; RR: Geunom moksori; lit. "His Voice") is a 2007 South Korean crime thriller-drama film written and directed by Park Jin-pyo, starring Sol Kyung-gu and Kim Nam-joo.[2][3][4][5] It was the third top-grossing domestic film of 2007, with 3,143,247 tickets sold.[6][7] The story is a fictionalized account of a real-life kidnapping case in 1991.[8][9]

Voice of a Murderer
Voice of a Murderer poster
Hangul그놈 목소리
Revised RomanizationGeunom moksori
McCune–ReischauerKŭnom moksori
Directed byPark Jin-pyo
Produced byLee Yu-jin
Written byPark Jin-pyo
StarringSol Kyung-gu
Kim Nam-joo
Music byLee Byung-woo
CinematographyKim Woo-hyung
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • February 1, 2007 (2007-02-01)
Running time
122 minutes
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$4.5 million
Box officeUS$18,160,598[1]

Plot

The only son of popular South Korean news anchor Han Kyung-bae, nine-year-old Sang-woo, disappears without a trace from the local playground. Later, the boy's parents receive a phone call from an unidentified person demanding 100,000 dollars as ransom in exchange for the boy's life. The exchange does not go happen due to the boy's mother Oh Ji-sun getting the police involved. The police assign detective Kim Wook-jung to the case and assemble a task force under his command.

The kidnapper, dubbed the "Voice", however, seems to be smarter than the police investigators on the case as he knows not to stay on the phone too long and changes potential hostage exchange locations. Not to mention, his emotionless voice suggests a possibility of him being confident he not get caught. The police have a number of suspects including Kyung-bae's former friend businessman Lee Jae-joon whom has a grudge on the former for getting him sent to prison but all have air tight alibis. In one previous potential chance to arrest the kidnapper who gets away with the money, Kim is kidnapped and assaulted by the kidnapper who was hidden in Han's trunk. As days turn into weeks, the boy's parents become restless and angry as the kidnapper sadistically taunts them by dangling the life of their son in front of them without being seen.

When the kidnapper is fed up with Kyung-bae's increasingly hostile tone with him, he demands that Ji-sun come meet him at a disclosed location in order to get her son back alive. Upon arriving she finds instructions to pay 100,000 to an account belonging to an alias but during the stressful ordeal faints. The kidnapper continues to taunt the boy's parents without offering and denying proof that their child is still alive except his word. Then, an audio forensics analyst reveals that one proof of life, the boy begging for his life over the phone has been pre-recorded. This results in the police saying to the parents that are considering on deciding to make the case public. The kidnapper once again calls to demand 100 thousand dollars more. Kyung-bae decides to finish the agonizing experience and follows the kidnapper's instructions and puts the money for the kidnapper to retrieve it, only to find his son is not present in the promised location.

Upon the 44th day of Sang-woo's kidnapping, police find the young boy's lifeless body is found near the Han River park. Soon, Kyung-bae returns to his anchor chair to report on his own son's kidnapping and pleads with the public to help him catch Sang-woo's murderer before playing a recording of the kidnapper's voice for the audience to hear.

Cast

Background

The film is based on the real-life abduction of nine-year-old Lee Hyung-ho on January 29, 1991. Despite 87 ransom calls from the kidnapper to the child's parents asking for ₩70 million (US$75,000), Lee's dead body was found in a ditch near his home in Apgujeong-dong 44 days after he went missing; he had been killed two days after being kidnapped.[10] The killer was never caught, and the 15-year statute of limitations on the case expired in 2006.[3]

Awards and nominations

2007 Grand Bell Awards[11]

2007 Blue Dragon Film Awards

2007 Korean Film Awards

  • Nomination – Best Sound – Kim Suk-won, Kim Chang-seop

References
  1. "Geu nom moksori (Voice of a Murderer) (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  2. D'Sa, Nigel (13 December 2006). "Voice of Murderer: New Feature from PARK Jin-pyo". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  3. Lee, Min-a (8 January 2007). "Time for boy's killer to repent". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  4. Jeong, Hae-gun (8 January 2007). "Stars of His Voice found roles with meaning". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  5. "Being Mom". The Dong-a Ilbo. 18 January 2007. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  6. "The Best Selling Films of 2007". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  7. "Voice of Murderer heard at box office". The Korea Times via Hancinema. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  8. Kim, Tae-jong (1 February 2007). "Director Lacks Voice in This Film". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  9. Chun, Su-jin (28 May 2007). "DVD review: Voice of a Murderer misses mark". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  10. "Keep Talking". The Dong-a Ilbo. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  11. "Voice of a Murderer - Awards". Cinemasie. Retrieved 2015-01-06.

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