Remember K-Movie Ending Explained: Revenge is something that keeps the fire burning within, probably for longer than one can imagine and that is the crux of the new Korean movie titled “Remember” which is based on the 2015 film of the same name by Atom Egoyan and written by Benjamin August.
It tells the story of an 80-year-old man Pil Joo suffering from Alzheimer’s and a brain tumor who had lost every member of his family during the Japanese occupation of the Korean era after he’s done with his familial duties, he carries out his long-planned plan to take revenge on people who were responsible for his family member’s deaths. In his plan, he seeks help from a young man named In Gyu who he works with at the restaurant.
The film is quite interesting because it delves straight into the plight of a man who saw everything first-hand and carries the weight of his wronged family due to people who betrayed their own country at that time and are now living prosperous life.
Pil Joo seems to be a fun-loving person who is friends with In Gyu and both have a special bonding which is why he’s asked by Pil Joo for driving him around but without the crucial information that Pil Joo will be killing people in those drives that are revealed quite early in the film but In Gyu keeps going because Pil Joo gives him all of his life’s savings which In Gyu desperately needed and he also threatens him by trying to kill himself and blaming the murder of three people on him.
Along the way, Pil Joo kills the people in power and everything is going well until the second last kill where he asks the general to say the things he did in front of his own granddaughter so she knows his reality and what he did. After getting him to confess, Pil Joo kills the general and the last kill turns out to be himself. As rightly said by the general that everyone was trying their best to live their lives and Pil Joo also did that.
He joined the Japanese Army after his sister Ok Su came back after being sent to Japan’s army as a comfort woman. His inability to understand what his sister had gone through and not empathizing with her made her to commit suicide and which made Pil Joo resent himself which makes him consider himself the last killer after killing the general he was going to kill himself in front of everyone.
Well, he does try to kill himself but he doesn’t. He’s stopped by In Gyu who tells him that what he did sounds noble and justice but he cannot take an easy path of death after carrying out a meaningful plan for the country. He needs to not run anymore and even he’s committed crimes, he needs to stop being weak and not take the easy route of killing himself and instead stand in a trial which makes Pil Joo drop the gun and on his knees. We see the SWAT team coming there and arresting him.
The ending of the film is quite emotional where we have an old man suffering from Alzheimer’s and he’s being visited by someone very young who represents the young generation of the country he tells Pil Joo that he’s a good person but Pil Joo doesn’t seem to remember him. A sigh of relief comes from In Gyu when Pil Joo remembered their special handshake and that made him cry.
Both of them share a hug before Pil Joo is taken to his cell.