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:

Despite the film being based on a series of real murders in the Korean provincial town of Hwaeseong during the 1980s, Joon-ho Bong also drew a lot inspiration from a play called 'Come See Me' which dramatized the incidents, to the extent that he stated in an interview: "If it weren't for KIM Gwang-rim's play [Come See Me], I would have had a lot of problems establishing the structure." While he also gained the idea for the depiction of the era from the graphic novel 'From Hell' by the writer Alan Moore, which was given to Bong by the journalist Tony Rayns as a gift.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The letter from the FBI about the semen DNA testing is signed by director Clarence M. Kelly. Kelly was director from 1973-1978. William H. Webster was director in 1986.

Quotes:

Detective Park Doo-Man:Once this dries, the stain will form the shape of the murderer's face.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Dirty Carnival (2006)

Jarringly disturbing and haunting film

I have long since heard of the excellence of this korean movie on koreanfilm.org, but it was only after reading the review in detail and realizing that the score was written by Taro Ishiwaro ( a well known Japanese musician who also wrote scores for Shohei Imamura and Japanese TV serials, including The Inanimate World ), and that the DOP was Kim Hyung-gu (who also shot Musa, One Fine Spring Day and Chen Kaige's Together) that it stumped on me I was indeed missing a masterpiece.

And a masterpiece it is, one deeply haunting and disturbing asian crime thriller. The mood invoked during the last few minutes of the film is something you would probably never forget.

Watch this film not only for its cinematic brilliance, but also because of the mezmerising score written by Taro Ishiwaro, track no 29 on the OST the favourite on my list.