''Voice of a Murderer'' (; lit. "His Voice") is a 2007 South Korean

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller-

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Park Jin-pyo Park Jin-pyo (born 1966) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He directed ''Too Young to Die'' (2002), ''You Are My Sunshine (2005 film), You Are My Sunshine'' (2005), ''Voice of a Murderer'' (2007), ''Closer to Heaven (film), Closer ...

, starring

Sol Kyung-gu Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Public Enemy (2002 film), Public Enemy'' film series, ''Peppermint Candy'', ''Oasis (2002 film), Oasis'', ''Silmido (film), Silmido'', ''Hope (2013 film ...

and Kim Nam-joo. It was the third top-grossing domestic film of 2007, with 3,143,247 tickets sold. The story is a fictionalized account of a real-life

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

case in 1991.

Plot

One day, the 9-year-old son of famous and successful South Korean news anchor Han Kyung-bae, Sang-woo, disappears without a trace. Later, Kyung-bae receives a phone call from an anonymous person demanding 100,000 dollars as

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

in exchange for the boy's life. The exchange does not happen after the boy's mother Oh Ji-sun gets the police involved. The police assign detective Kim Wook-jung to the case and assembles a secret investigative task force and forensics team. The kidnapper, sometimes referred to as the "Bastard's Voice", however, seems to be smarter than any of the detectives assigned to the case: He knows not to stay on the phone too long and keeps changing locations for exchanges. Not to mention, his emotionless voice suggests a possibility of him being confident he won't get caught. An example of his cunning is seen when in one potential chance to arrest the kidnapper who gets away with the money, Kim who was hidden in the trunk of Kyung-bae's car, is kidnapped and tortured by the kidnapper and made a mockery of when he is left somewhere naked. As time goes by, the boy's parents become restless and angry as the kidnapper continually taunts them through phone calls as he mocks them as he demands ransom. The police have a number of suspects including Kyung-bae's former best friend Lee Jae-joon who has a grudge on the former for getting him sent to prison, but he has an air tight alibi. The kidnapper calls Kyung-bae once more to ask if has gotten his car back and allows Kyung-bae to hear his son's voice, convincing Kyung-bae that Sang-woo is still alive. However, 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 grand to an account belonging to an

alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...

but during the stressful ordeal faints. The police and Kyung-bae still believing Lee Jae-joon is the kidnapper continue to investigate and interrogate him further until they find he is not. Then, an investigator specializing in

audio forensics Audio forensics is the field of forensic science relating to the acquisition, analysis, and evaluation of sound recordings that may ultimately be presented as admissible evidence in a court of law or some other official venue. Audio forensic evide ...

reveals that one proof of life, the boy begging for his life over the phone is a tape recording. This results in the police suggesting to Kyung-bae they make the case public. The kidnapper once again calls to demand another 100 grand put on a specified location in

Lotte World Lotte World is a major recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of the world's largest indoor theme park, an outdoor amusement park called "Magic Island", an artificial island inside a lake linked by monorail, shopping malls, a lu ...

. Kyung-bae decides to be done with 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 near the Han River park. Soon, Kyung-bae returns to his anchor chair to report on his own story and pleads with the public to help him catch Sang-woo's murderer before playing a recording of the murderer's voice for the audience to hear.

Cast

as Han Kyung-bae * Kim Nam-joo as Oh Ji-sun * Kim Yeong-cheol as Detective Kim Wook-jung *Song Young-chang as Captain Noh *

Go Soo-hee Go Soo-hee (born July 18, 1976) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film Television series Variety show References External links * * * 고수희at Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated b ...

as Detective Cha Soo-hee *

Kim Kwang-kyu Kim Kwang-kyu (born January 7, 1941) is a South Korean poet and translator."김광규 " biographical PDF available at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do# Life Kim was born in Seoul and studied German language and literature at Seoul Nationa ...

as Insepector *

Choi Jung-yoon Choi Jung-yoon (born 9 May 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in Korean drama, television dramas, with leading roles in ''Romance Hunter'' (2007), ''Manny (TV series), Manny'' (2011), ''Ojakgyo Family'' (2011), ''Ang ...

as Anchorwoman Ha Joo-won *

Na Moon-hee Na Moon-hee (; Na Kyung-ja, ; November 30, 1941) is a South Korean actress. Since 1960, Na has had a prolific acting career in television and film spanning more than five decades. She established a classic Korean mother persona with her Korean d ...

as Kyung-bae's mother *

Yoon Je-moon Yoon Je-moon (born March 9, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He appears in theater, film and television, notably in the movies ''The Man Next Door'' (2010) and ''Dangerously Excited'' (2012), and the TV series '' The End of the World'' (2013). F ...

as Priest *

Kang Dong-won Gang Dong-won (born January 18, 1981) is a South Korean actor. Early life Gang Dong-won was born January 18, 1981, in Busan, and grew up in Changwon of Gyeongsangnam-do. His father, Gang Cheol-woo, was an engineer and later vice president of ...

as Kidnapper *Park Jin-woo as Detective Park *Kim Ik-tae as Chief of police *Jang Won-young as Dr. Choi *

Lee Hyung-chul Lee Hyung-chul (born February 19, 1971) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in television dramas, notably in ''Scent of Man'' (2003), '' Sisters of the Sea'' (2005), '' On Air'' (2008), '' City Hall'' (2009), ''Pas ...

as Han Sang-woo *Jeon Hye-jin as Lee Ae-sook *Im Jong-yoon as Lee Jae-joon *Jo Seok-hyun as Detective Jo *Kim Young-pil as Han In-seok

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 (), Lee's dead body was found in a ditch near his home in

Apgujeong-dong Apgujeong-dong (; ) is a ward of Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea. It is considered one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in South Korea. It was reported that housing price of Apgujeong-dong is approximately US$28,300 per one square meter bKorea M ...

44 days after he went missing; he had been killed two days after being kidnapped. The killer was never caught, and the 15-year

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

on the case expired in 2006.

Awards and nominations

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

* Nomination – Best Actor –

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...

* Nomination – Best Film * Nomination – Best Director –

* Nomination – Best Actor –

2007

Korean Film Awards The Korean Film Awards was a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the broadcasting network MBC from 2002 to 2010. History Originally named the MBC Film Awards, the ceremony was first established in 2002. It was renamed the Korean Film Aw ...

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

References

External links

* * * - {{DEFAULTSORT:Voice Of A Murderer 2007 films 2007 crime thriller films South Korean crime thriller films Crime films based on actual events Police detective films Films set in 1991 Films about kidnapping Films about mass media people Films set in Seoul Films shot in Seoul Films directed by Park Jin-pyo 2000s Korean-language films 2000s South Korean films