MovieChat Forums > Gokseong (2016) Discussion > Why didn't they arrest the stranger? (sp...

Why didn't they arrest the stranger? (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by graham742003
7 replies | jump to latest

There are lots of parts in the movie that are open to interpretation and may have various meanings but one scene just did not make sense to me at all.

When Jong-Goo, the other police officer and the deacon go up to the stranger's house after speaking to the witness who claims to have seen him eating an animal raw they start searching the place and find the secret rooms one with evidence of some kind of suspicious ritual and the other with loads of photos of dead people and personal items (including Jong-Goo's daughter's shoe) why on earth didn't they arrest the guy?

The dog attacks them and then the stranger appears and calls it off then walks into his house and they just kind of look at him in awe or maybe fear then the next scene they are in the police car and his mate is looking really sickened and produces the girl's shoe and mentions the photos but why they didn't arrest or question him at the house when he first turns up is very hard to understand.

Another smaller oddity I noticed is none of the police ever draw their guns despite being attacked by vicious dogs, zombies, people trying to bite them etc.

[–] nicolevabre 8 years ago

That's a great question; I guess they were running on emotion and not practicalities, but still you'd think they'd take him in!
As for not ever drawing their guns - did they even have any? When the posse loaded up into the truck, they only had shovels, right? Jeez, I don't even think the officers carried guns in the film. I know there's lots of differences between S. Korea and Western coumtries, not as many gun crimes, for one, so maybe they DON'T carry guns...

I enjoyed this film so much, I'm currently watching it again. Still picking up lots of little things I didn't catch the first time around. I'll have to keep on eye on the gun issue. ;)

[–] graham742003 8 years ago

I kept looking at their utility belts and it certainly wasn't obvious that they were armed but I'm pretty sure I spotted a gun holster and the pistol grip poking out the top on Jong-Goo's belt at one point.

A quick search online suggests that police can carry guns in S.Korea but are not routinely armed as apparently some are conscripts on low pay with very little training, might also explain the bumbling antics of the police at times (although Jong himself was a sergeant I think).

[–] nicolevabre 8 years ago

Good eye, and research! I quite enjoyed their derpy acts, almost frustrating at times, though, too. I know it's been discussed on this board ad nauseam already, but their antics are so similar to the force in Memories of Murder, sans dropkicks & lite torture. ;)

[–] Aswinning_11 8 years ago

Yes that was frustrating. Couldn't they just arrest him on suspicion of murder? Especially with all the proof in his house? The lack of police annoyed me. I mean, clearly murders are happening and no reinforcement is called from Seoul.
Maybe they're so much in the mountains and so remote that they're just appalled by the events happening and dunno how to deal with it.

[–] Martialhorror 8 years ago

Because what they were doing was illegal. The protagonist didn't witness the more disturbing evidence, as he was busy with the dog. The other guy was clearly traumatized and didn't alert the others until it was too late.

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[–] flanger216 8 years ago

Because they had no due cause to be ransacking his house in the first place. The Christian cousin even complains that what they're doing "is illegal." Police cannot search your domicile simply due to the fact that you are a "Jap," some dude claims he saw you eating a deer, and the rumormongers claim you like to drink blood. The protagonist, as likable and well-intentioned as he may have been, eventually devolves into a flat-out fascist putting together lynch mobs to go after the shifty-eyed foreigners because of some spooky dreams he's been having -- oh yes, and his delirious, fever-addled daughter also says she encountered the Japanese man, after our hero yells at her and badgers her with a bunch of leading questions. Barging into the Japanese man's house in that scene is the beginning of his downfall into paranoia and senseless violence. The evil in this movie ultimately has nothing to do with 'shamans or demons.'

[–] sehlee 8 years ago

Well, the main character did everything out of police procedure and all out of gut feelings and emotions which was his sin the devil used to get to his daughter.
Like someone else mentioned, I don't think they had guns, especially cops of a small village like that.