Memories of Murder (2003) Salinui chueok (original title)

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (writer)
Kwang-rim Kim (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

2 May 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | South Korea | Serial Killer | Mental Retardation | Serial Murder

Awards:

14 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kang-ho Song	...	Detective Park Doo-Man
Sang-kyung Kim	...	Detective Seo Tae-Yoon
Roe-ha Kim	...	Detective Cho Yong-koo
Jae-ho Song	...	Sergeant Shin Dong-chul
Hie-bong Byeon	...	Sergeant Koo Hee-bong
Seo-hie Ko	...	Officer Kwon Kwi-ok
No-shik Park	...	Baek, Kwang-ho
Hae-il Park	...	Park, Hyeon-gyu
Jong-ryol Choi	...	Du-man's father
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mi-seon Jeon	...	Kwok Seol-yung
In-seon Jeong
Ha-kyeong Kim
Jae-eung Lee
Young-hwa Seo
Ji-ru Sung

Directed by
Joon-ho Bong

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Joon-ho Bong		writer
Kwang-rim Kim		writer
Sung Bo Shim		writer

Produced by
Seoung-Jae Cha	....	producer
Jae-Won Choi	....	co-executive producer
Moo Ryung Kim	....	producer
Kang-bok Lee	....	executive producer
Jong-yun No	....	producer

Original Music by
Tarô Iwashiro

Cinematography by
Hyung-ku Kim

Film Editing by
Sun-min Kim

Production Design by
Seong-hie Ryu

Makeup Department
Hee Eun Lee	....	special makeup effects artist

Sound Department
Byung-Ha Lee	....	sound
Seung-yeop Lee	....	sound editor

Other crew
Bob Buchholz	....	english language director
Eung Jun Lee	....	martial arts choreographer

Production Companies

• CJ Entertainment
• Muhan Investment
• Sidus Pictures

Distributors

• CJ Entertainment (2003) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Cine Qua Non Films (Japan) (theatrical)
• Optimum Releasing (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• CTV International (France)
• Europa Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• I-On New Media (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Optimum Releasing (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Rialto Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• SBP (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Visionary Thinking (2003) (Bosnia-Herzegovina) (all media)
• Visionary Thinking (2003) (Serbia and Montenegro) (all media)
• Vivendi Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Juniper Post  sound post-production

Also Known As:

"Salinui chueok" - South Korea (original title)

Runtime:

Canada:129 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Germany:127 min (Filmfest Hamburg) | South Korea:130 min | USA:132 min | Argentina:128 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | USA:Unrated | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:M18 | France:U | Sweden:15

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Trivia:

When Kwang-Ho was investigated in the basement of the police station, the two police officers and a suspect watched a TV program while eating their meals. The title of this program is "Soo Sa Ban Jang" which can be loosely interpreted as "Investigation Squad" in English. It was a famous TV detective drama which was aired for almost twenty years. The opening music was also very popular during that time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Detective Seo Tae-Yoon's gun is tossed away from his hands by Park Hyeon-gyu, the gun is seen landing to the left of the train tracks from the camera's point of view. Moments later, when the detective returns to pick it up, the gun is seen lying on the train tracks itself.

Quotes:

Rape suspect:But... is wanking a crime?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Dirty Carnival (2006)

Best crime/detective film ever

My "one line summary" might be too subjective (well it's just an opinion after all), but that's what kind of thought came to my mind after seeing this film. It just sucked me in and didn't let away until the ending credits appeared. I'm really not a fan of this genre which is popular in various "detective" TV series but this film was something exceptional. A perfectly made detective film based on a real shocking murder case in S.Korea in 80's. This is a must see Korean film for everybody and this must be a real pearl for those who love detective stories because perhaps it's the best detective film ever...

I give it a 10/10 this film is worth it.