MEMORIES OF MURDER

Before PARASITE made Bong Joon Ho an international household name, MEMORIES OF MURDER had already established exactly what kind of filmmaker he was going to become.

Set in rural South Korea during the 1980s, the film follows detectives investigating a series of murders that appear connected. Park Doo-man, played by Song Kang-ho, relies on instinct, intimidation and the conviction that he can identify a criminal simply by looking at him. When detective Seo Tae-yoon arrives from Seoul, he brings a more methodical approach, favouring evidence, procedure and careful reconstruction over gut feeling. In theory, the two methods should strengthen the investigation. In practice, their partnership becomes another source of tension in an increasingly fraught investigation.

Bong takes the structure of a police procedural and steadily pulls it apart. The investigation moves between grim crime scenes, bureaucratic incompetence, moments of slapstick and stretches of genuine dread. That tonal control became one of Bong’s defining strengths. Comedy never cancels the horror, and the horror never distracts from the failures of a police force under pressure.

The film was inspired by the Hwaseong serial murders, a case that remained unsolved for decades after the film was made. That knowledge hangs over every failed lead and every false confession. Bong is interested in the detectives, but also in a police system trying to manufacture certainty when it has very little evidence to work with.

Song Kang-ho gives one of the defining performances of his career, moving from bluster to exhaustion as Park’s confidence begins to erode. The final moments are among the most discussed in Bong’s filmography and give the entire investigation a weight that extends far beyond the conventions of a crime thriller.

MEMORIES OF MURDER is one of the great films of modern Korean cinema, and was chosen by FOMO Film Club member Anya for screening this week.