Memories of Murder (Criterion Collection) 01/21 Blu-ray (Rental)

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 TWO-BLU-RAY 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 Two 2003 commentaries featuring Bong and members of the cast and crew, plus a new commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns New interview with 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 interview with film scholar Jeff Smith on the use of sound in Bong’s work 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