Memories of Murder

Original title: Salinui chueok

2003
15
2h 11m

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

229K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:02

Dark Comedy Korean Drama Police Procedural Serial Killer True Crime Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

229K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

905

138

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #194

Awards
- 33 wins & 10 nominations

Baek Gwang-ho
(as Park No-sik)

Park Hae-il

Park Hyeon-gyu

Jeon Mi-seon

Kwok Seol-yung
(as Mi-seon Jeon)

Seo Young-hwa

Eon Deok-nyeo
(as Young-hwa Seo)

Woo Go-na

Kim So-hyeon

Ok-joo Lee

Oh Nam-joo

Choi Jong-ryol

Gwang-ho's father
(as Jong-ryol Choi)

Yoo Seung-mok

Journalist
(as Seung-mok Yoo)

Hun-Kyung Lee

Park Yeong-ja

Shin Hyun-jong

Autopsy doctor

Lee Jae-eung

Boy in Opening Scene
(as Jae-eung Lee)

Director
- Bong Joon Ho
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Beginning in June 2000, it took Bong Joon Ho a year to write the script for Memories of Murder (2003), yet he has stated that: "For the first six months, I didn't write a line of the script. I just did research."

Goofs
In the letter received from the FBI written in English, there are four spelling mistakes - 'examnation' instead of 'examination', 'insrumental' instead of 'instrumental', 'dateed' instead of 'dated' and 'Octorber' instead of 'October'.

Quotes
[last lines]
Detective Park Doo-Man: Did you see his face?
[Girl Nods]
Detective Park Doo-Man: What did he look like?
Schoolgirl: Well... kind of plain.
Detective Park Doo-Man: In what way?
Schoolgirl: Just... ordinary

Alternate versions
The British DVD by Optimum Releasing has 5 minutes cut omitting the whole part of the film between the release of the last suspect and Detective Seo Tae-Yoon shadowing him. Therefore important scenes for the development of the story are missing, such as when the detectives are informed about the possibility of a DNA analysis of sperm found on one of the victim's clothes and that the sample has to be sent abroad because the required equipment is not in Korea. Also missing is the sequence where Detective Cho Yong-koo loses his leg and a scene with Kwok Seol-yung asking Detective Park Doo-Man to quit the police.

Connections
Featured in Anasuya (2007)

User reviews450

Review

Featured review

9/10

Great serial killer drama

I'm one of those people who tend to think that South Korean movies are perhaps a bit too slow-paced for my taste. Memories of Murder isn't a fast-paced film, by any means, but this time the slow pace made this movie about an investigation of serial killings so much better than 95% of its American counterparts.

Essentially, Memories of Murder is a drama first with thriller and comedy elements (yes, in the first hour or so the movie is actually quite funny). Kang-ho Song and Sang-kyung Kim are brilliant as the two cops who have drastically different views on how to solve a crime. The character development is fascinating and believable thanks to a great script.

Highly recommended.