2005 Film Index Back to Main Site		Back Memories of Murder Crime, Thriller, Mystery Korean w/ English Subtitles South Korea / 129 minute Directed by Bong Joon-ho Written by Kim Kwang-rim, Bong Joon-ho Cinematography by Kim Hyung-koo Festivals/Awards: San Sebastian Intl. (Best New Director), London, Toronto Intl, Tokyo (Asian Film Award). When women start turning up dead in a small town in South Korea in 1986, two reluctantly-partnered cops resolve to bring the killer to justice. But it was a very different world then, and without modern forensics the investigators are forced to rely mainly on intuition and brute force. At times both touching and humorous, Memories of Murder is a riveting tale of a mysterious killer and the ceaseless pressure on those charged with stopping his rampage. 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 than ran rampant during the late-80s military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. Memories of Murder is one of those rare films that starts off as an entertaining genre-film only to transcend the all-too familiar trajectory of a detective story with a blend of social satire, comedy, and political commentary.