Listen to the Voice of a Murderer on DVD

“Voice Of A Murderer” is the third full length film from South Korean director Park Jin Pyo. Following his acclaimed melodrama You Are My Sunshine, director Park Jin Pyo again takes inspiration from a real-life account for this latest film that recreated the tragic 1991 abduction of Lee Hyung Ho, a young boy whose parents were threatened for 44 days afterwards by phone calls following his disappearance. It remains too faithful to the awful crime, coming across more like a long reconstructed television crime docudrama. The only difference is that some of Korean biggest stars are cast in the leading roles such as acclaimed actor Kung-Gu Sol (Silmido, Oasis) and Kim Nam Ju (Models) as the parents with Kang Dong Won (Maundy Thursday, Duelist) as the voice of the kidnapper. Voice of a Murderer has grabbed over than three million admissions during its box office run, making it the highest grossing 2007 Korean film to date and the home cinema version has scheduled to release on September 30, 2007 in region 3 DVD.

Some notable aspect of the actual event abduction was changed for “Voice Of A Murderer”, such as the occupation of the father, while in real life the father was a successful businessman, in the movie Kung-Gu Sol’s character was a famous news broadcaster, Han Kyun Bae. Han and his wife, Oh Ji-seon (Kim Nam-ju), live a comfortable life in Seoul's elite area of Apkujeong. They were crudely interrupted when their 9-year-old son, Sang-woo is disappeared without a trace on a calm summer evening in 1991. They soon receive a phone call asking for 100 Million Won in exchange for the safe return of their son, while on the real event, the actual ransom amount was 70 Million Won ($74,000). Then the film will counts on the next 44 days, when the kidnapper continuously calls with his chillingly cold and emotionless voice gave the instructions and requests for the ransom. Kyong-bae believes that everything will be fine and he will see his son again once he pays 100 million won. But as soon as the police get involved in solving the case, things don’t go as planned. The kidnapper always effortlessly eludes capture; not only is he a step ahead at every turn, he seems to enjoy toying with the police in this cat-and-mouse chase. When Han becomes increasingly desperate and frustrated with the police, the kidnapper calls him with another set of instructions, he turns the situation completely around and demands a direct confrontation.

Voice Of A Murderer is a tense thriller with lot of admirable performances by it main casts. Kyung-Gu Sol gave a courageous presentation as the father that would restlessly do everything to get his son back. No matter how terrible the situations were, Kyung-Gu Sol’s character always shows the air of strength. The only blemish in his performance would have been the ending scene when his character Han Kyun Bae talked into the television camera. Kim Nam Ju as the mother, was nearly as impressively portrays the character of a nervous breakdown woman, she was successfully escaped from her usual image as a pretty lady in advertisements for luxury goods. The heartthrob actor Kang Dong-won is featured as the kidnapper in hiding, thee biggest attraction that the actor has to offer is his looks, but throughout the 122-minute running time, he remains faceless. Yet he still offered a passable performance of a cold-blooded kidnapper.

Product Details:

• Product Title: Voice of a Murderer (DVD) (Special Edition) (Korea Version)
• Actors: Kung-Gu Sol, Kim Nam Ju, Kang Dong Won, Kim Yeong-cheol, Song Yeong-chang, Go Su-heui.
• Directors: Park Jin Pyo
• Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
• Language: Korean
• Subtitle: English, Korean
• Audio Specs: Dolby Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround 2CH
• Region: Region 3
• Number of discs: 2
• Country Made: South Korea
• Distributor: CJ Entertainment
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Release Date:September 30, 2007 (South Korea)
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