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.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Kim Hyung Ku and approved by director Bong Joon Ho, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Two 2009 commentaries featuring Bong and members of the cast and crew, plus a new commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns
New program featuring filmmaker Guillermo del Toro
New interview 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
New program about the use of sound in Bong’s work, featuring film scholar Jeff Smith
Incoherence, a 1994 student film by Bong, with a new introduction by the director
Teaser, trailer, and TV spot
PLUS: An essay by critic and novelist Ed Park
Excellent news, I feel like Memories of Murder is one of the few left that's been kicking around the "most wanted Criterions" on reddit for ages, though I haven't been there in years to know if it's still been going strong
Would be nice if Memories of Murder was perhaps from a new scan. The film isn't that old but it could benefit from one regardless, and people like me can then retire the Korean import.
It'll at least be nice to have Criterion confirm in their transfer notes whether the recent restoration of Memories of Murder (released by La Rabbia in France) reflects Bong's intended colour grading. It's very different than the Korean disc, but I quite like it. The Korean disc is very contrasty (highlights are majorly clipped) and the colours look oversaturated.
Moshrom wrote:It'll at least be nice to have Criterion confirm in their transfer notes whether the recent restoration of Memories of Murder (released by La Rabbia in France) reflects Bong's intended colour grading. It's very different than the Korean disc, but I quite like it. The Korean disc is very contrasty (highlights are majorly clipped) and the colours look oversaturated.
That'd be indeed nice. The new restoration is, say, strange in some places, and the grading definitely is one of these places. It didn't shock me during viewing though, but once I saw some caps of the older disc, I did wonder what was the correct look because they convey quite different feelings.
This is getting a Fathom Events release in the U.S. on October 19th and 20th. Unfortunate for me since I won't be going into any theaters through at least the end of this year, but I assume/hope Neon will make it available for regular bookings later on, especially since a Fathom release locks out arthouse/independent theaters.
Interesting that your impression was so skewed, since I find it endlessly rewatchable, and a perfect balance of tones. Bong strikes a spot that’s certainly depressing but also darkly humorous and just flat-out enjoyable. There are clear similarities with Zodiac plotwise, but the cinematic strengths are uncanny in their rhythmic synchronization as well. Also that score is simply one of my favorites ever, and I’ve sat and done work with the DVD menu on repeat for longer than I’d like to admit on at least one occasion.
Another stacked Bong release, three commentaries, Bong's student film, and some really interesting-sounding extras- especially intriguing is the interview of Bong talking about how the serial killer inspired him personally
Insane how stacked this release is. Looking at this however, and at the other blurays of other East Asian films from all the Western companies, the one thing that I notice is that they all lack new interviews with the cast members.
Edit: According to Grady Hendrix, one of the reasons this took a while to be released is because they wanted to make sure that they actually had the rights to 'Incoherence'.
That whole trailer looks pretty dark and grim. So the French version has this kind of ultra-dark, excessively–green grading? Are people doing this trying to mimic the look of modern digital cinematography? Every time I see "that scene," the scene you see in every modern digital movie, where they shoot using only the brimming dawn light, or a faint light outside the window, refracted through an opaque shade, or whatever low-light scheme they all do now (and sometimes this is more than one scene, and more like the whole movie)––at any rate, it is very cringe. One of the worst trends in modern cinema. But it seems like people doing these restorations are mimicking that low-light, low-contrast digital look. Why make your movie a strain to see? I don't get it.
Plus the range of color in that restoration trailer is so limited. When you're making a movie in which a killer is driven to kill in part by seeing the color red, shouldn't you make sure the color we see is actually red? Because the reds in these screencaps are rust brown.
feihong wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:39 am
That whole trailer looks pretty dark and grim. So the French version has this kind of ultra-dark, excessively–green grading?
Based on the trailer, it also looks very grey in addition to the green. I think they tried to make the grading look like a David Fincher film. Even though Zodiac is the most similar to Memories of Murder in story, I would say the new grading looks more similar to greyish color grades of Se7en, Gone Girl, and Panic Room. I think that Zodiac manages to retain some of it's warm saturated colors a bit more than the others.
No previous dvd release looked like the upcoming Criterion. Filmmakers can tinker all they like, but such a drastically different (and inferior to me) version should be included as an extra. Thanks for posting the comparison. Does Criterion have the distribution rights in the UK, or can we hope for a better image from a UK distributor?
(By the by, I regard this as a far superior film to Zodiac)
How rude! wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:59 pm
No previous dvd release looked like the upcoming Criterion. Filmmakers can tinker all they like, but such a drastically different (and inferior to me) version should be included as an extra. Thanks for posting the comparison. Does Criterion have the distribution rights in the UK, or can we hope for a better image from a UK distributor?
(By the by, I regard this as a far superior film to Zodiac)
How rude! wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:59 pm
No previous dvd release looked like the upcoming Criterion. Filmmakers can tinker all they like, but such a drastically different (and inferior to me) version should be included as an extra. Thanks for posting the comparison. Does Criterion have the distribution rights in the UK, or can we hope for a better image from a UK distributor?
(By the by, I regard this as a far superior film to Zodiac)
Artificial Eye released Memories of Murder and Barking Dogs Never Bite together last year, it's sourced from the same master as the Criterion version.
