Screened as part of NZIFF 2004

Memories of Murder 2003

Sarin vi Chu-pok

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

Korea In Korean with English subtitles
127 minutes 35mm

Director

Screenplay

Bong Joon-ho, Shim Sung-bo. Based on a story by Kim Gwang-rim

Photography

Kim Hyung-ku

With

Song Kang-ho
,
Kim Sang-gyung
,
Kim Roi-ha
,
Song Jae-ho

Festivals

Toronto, San Sebastian, Vancouver 2003

Awards

Critics' Prize, San Sebastián 2003

Elsewhere

“The US probably generates more serial killer thrillers than any other country, but decades have passed since it produced one that – like this South Korean film – uses the subject matter to form a societal and political indictment… An award-winning box-office smash in its homeland, Bong Joon-ho’s suspenseful and ultimately haunting movie connects a series of unsolved rape-homicides to the sexism and brutality in a village’s police department, and to the prejudice and suspicion that ran rampant during the late-80s military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. The superb cinematography by Kim Hyung-ku… and a trio of strong performances fuse in the climax, where good guys and bad guys remain hard to tell apart and a truth sought for years seems to vanish into a darkened tunnel.” — Johnny Ray Huston, San Francisco Bay Guardian 

“Fundamentally serious – and achingly moving, especially in its closing scenes – the film is also grimly funny and quite deeply shocking. A triumph, it places Bong at the forefront of Korean cinema.” — Tony Rayns