At least you have made a review of this film. I think I only now know why I haven’t been able to find much on it. Save Me is the real title.
Save Me would actually be a good title for this film since it works on multiple levels, but the direct translation of the title is witness or eyewitness.
Thanks for putting out these reviews Tyler. You’re the only one that reviewed this movie. There were zero reviews in English on Rottentomatoes so you have an unique niche. I was surprised at how good Korean movies were, when I happen to go to CGV and try one (it was a Korean serial killer movie where the serial killer is losing his memory) I was attracted to the Rear Window-esque storyline that was suggested in the trailer for this movie “The Witness.” So, I might go check it out.
Thanks for checking out the review! I really hope Korean cinema becomes available to more people in more places, they are just so unique and good (mostly)!
I finally checked it out tonight at a luxury theater. I liked it a lot more than you did. It looked very realistic and was tense from start to finish. From the Korean movies I’ve seen so far, it seems like they are more willing to go for the jugular and make the lead unlikable at the risk of alienating the audience. In Hollywood studio movies, movie stars and producers are less willing to have the hero appear unheroic or unlikeable, so there’s less danger–because you know that the hero will always do the right thing. Here, that difference alone gave it a different edge, despite it being a similar plotline you see in American “ordinary person in peril” movies. But, for this very fact, the theme was stronger–of people needing to stick their neck out. It reminded me of this very exact same scenario in an apartment complex in New York. Except, the New York case was much worse, because the victim was banging on their doors, and no one would open their door or call the cops. Maybe, the writer got inspiration from that New York case.
I actually heard that this film was indeed inspired from those events in NY after seeing the film, and as horrifying as the true case sounds, it is sad that it is very believable and it could very easily have happened in Korea too due to people’s fear of sticking their neck out like you said. The way this film portrays this sad phenomenon was what I loved about it the most. You’re also so right about Korean films being more than willing to give their protagonists a very loose moral compass that really makes for more complex and interesting characters. If you enjoyed “Memoir of a Murderer” and “The Witness” I want to personally recommend “The Chaser (2008)” and “Memories of Murder (2003)” as two seminal Korean films that illustrate this characteristic very well.
