TELL It Like It Is
"Whoever arrogates to himself the right of vengeance shows how little he is qualified to decide his own claims, since he certainly demands what he would think unfit to be granted to another." – Samuel Johnson
"Revenge is a confession of pain" – Unknown
TELL ME SOMETHING is one pleasant surprise.
Less about serial killing than it is about pure, unadulterated, human need to seek and administer vengeance, TELL ME SOMETHING is tight, its pacing is measured, and its surprises – slowly unfolding one right after the other – are truly frightening. As Asian pictures have shown an increasing willingness to produce some of the most horrific and stylish explorations of human depravity (seen any Takashi Miike lately?), it was only inevitable that a picture drawn from the same vein as THE BONE COLLECTOR, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, or SEVEN see the celluloid light of day from across the ocean.
Police Lieutenant Cho (Suk-kyu Han) finds his career is in serious trouble: a maverick brought up on charges of police corruption, he's only a heartbeat – or one mistake – away from losing his career. However, a brutal murder pulls him back from the brink, but the circumstances turn even more bizarre than he originally expected: the head, arms, and legs of the dismembered body don’t match up, only meaning that there are far more victims – measured only by the carnage – out there waiting to be found. The body has been dissected with uncanny surgical precision. The department immediately reinstates Cho because of his experience: he’s the only detective with the expertise to head such a dangerous investigation.
As it turns out, all of the victims are former lovers of a reclusive artist, Chae Su-Yeon (played with poised subtlety by Eun-ha Shim). Cho is certain that not only are her remaining friends in danger but also she stands the greatest risk to fall prey to the predator, and now he must race against time to uncover the secret of her past in order to unravel the mystery of their mutual present ... and, possibly, her future.
Drenched in an atmosphere thicker than ten film noirs put together, TELL ME SOMETHING is a stellar 'whodunnit' – an innovation to traditional crime procedurals that predates the success of such television programs as CBS’s “CSI,” “CSI: Miami,” and “CSI: New York.” The clues – the gory forensics – are all over the place, thanks to the handiwork of the killer, and it makes for more than one bloody moment after another. The story keeps the audience guessing: once you think the killer is exposed, another clue is unearthed, and the game begins again. In fact, TELL ME SOMETHING keeps you guessing right up until the end … and then some. A cerebral combination of the police procedural and a crime thriller's strongest elements, the film presents a roller coaster full of suspects with an equal number of motives.
However, it isn't until the very last scene of the film that the true killer is revealed ... along with a motivation of perfect evil, of pure revenge … as the script wrings out one last clever twist that will doubtless haunt the viewer into repeat viewings, searching for the telltale clues that were missed along the way.
Extraordinarily edited and dripping with bloody suspense, TELL ME SOMETHING is not for the soft-stomached. The film boasts a fair share of blood and flesh scenes, shockingly simple in their construction but packing one terrific visual wallop. The performances, especially of the two leads are dead on, no pun intended. The film is far from perfect; there are, in fact, a few clues that probably would've been disclosed differently, and one situation regarding a youthful neighbor of the disturbed Chae is a bit hard to swallow. However, these drawbacks are minor to the overall story, and they do little to diminish the utter sense of dread, despair, and futility overwhelming Lieutenant Cho in the film's closing moments.
Be warned: watch it with the lights on.
