#1073: BONG, Joon Ho: Memories Of Murder (2003)

BONG, Joon Ho (South Korea)
Memories Of Murder (2003)
Spine #1073
Blu-ray


In his breakthrough second feature, Bong Joon Ho explodes the conventions of the policier with thrillingly subversive, genre-defying results. Based on the true story of a string of serial killings that rocked a rural community in the 1980s, Memories of Murder stars New Korean Cinema icon Song Kang Ho as the local officer who reluctantly joins forces with a seasoned Seoul detective (Kim Sang Kyung) to investigate the crimes -- leading each man on a wrenching, yearslong odyssey of failure and frustration that will drive him to the existential edge. Combining a gripping procedural with a vivid social portrait of the everyday absurdity of life under military rule, Bong fashions a haunting journey into ever-deepening darkness that begins as a black-comic satire and ends as a soul-shattering encounter with the abyss.

131 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2021
Director/Writers


Original story by Kim Gwang Rim.
Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Shim Sung Bo.
Bong was 34 when he directed Memories of Murder.

Other Bong Joon Ho films in the Collection:

#1133: Okja (2017)
#1054: Parasite (2019)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic and novelist Ed Park.

Commentary
  1. From 2003 featuring Bong and members of the cast and crew; and
  2. From 2003 featuring critic Tony Rayns.
Interview 1

With filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.

Interview 2

With Bong about the real-life serial killer who inspired the film.

Documentary

From 2004 on the making of the film

Deleted scenes

With optional audio commentary by Bong.

Interview 3

With film scholar Jeff Smith on the use of sound in Bong’s work.

1994 student film

By Bong: Incoherence, with an introduction by the director.

Teaser, trailer, and TV spot

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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