The Criterion Collection is releasing Memories of Murder (2003) from Oscar winning-director Bong Joon Ho to special 2-disc editions on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.
The film was restored in digital 4k and director-approved for presentation in 1080p (Blu-ray) and 480p (DVD) with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound on the Blu-ray.
Bonus features include a new interview with Bong, two 2009 commentary pieces from Bong and the cast and crew, deleted scenes, a new program featuring filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and more (see details of extras below).
Memories of Murder (2003) releases to Blu-ray ($39.95) and DVD ($2.95) on April 20, 2021. Order on Amazon
Special 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
• 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
Synposis
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.
