After Bong Joon Ho’s class war masterpiece Parasite took home a record breaking four Oscars at the recent Academy Awards it should come as no surprise that the Criterion Collection has announced that they’ll be putting together a home video release of the excellent thriller. The really exciting news for Director Bong fans though, is that they’ll also be adding his searing crime drama Memories of Murder to their hallowed catalog. This will be the first time the film has had a North American Blu-ray release!
Neon
We adored Parasite, and if you still haven’t seen the chillingly hilarious thriller you can get a taste for what the film touches on with this excerpt from Lindsey Romain’s brilliant review here. “The film follows two families, the impoverished Kims and the wealthy Parks. The Kims consist of father Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), mother Choong-sook (Jang Hye-jin), son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), and daughter Ki-jeong (Park So-dam). They live in a dingy basement, barely able to afford food. They make their living off of folding pizza boxes for a delivery service.
But their fortune changes when Ki-woo gets an irresistible offer from an old friend; to take his job as a tutor for the Park family’s teenage daughter, Da-hye (Jung Ji-so). With the help of a fake resume made by Ki-jeong, Ki-woo secures the job and wins over the affection of the Parks. He eventually convinces them to hire his sister as their son’s art tutor–without letting them know she’s his sister. Soon, every member of the Kim family weasels their way into the Park household staff. They finally get a taste of steady employment and the finer things in life.”
Memories of Murder marked the first in a long running collaboration between Bong Joon Ho and Parasite’s San Kang Ho and takes on a real life (and at the time) unsolved series of murders that shook South Korea. Our very own Mica Arbiter gave their thoughts on what makes it so special in our recent Bong Joon Ho movie roundup. “As exciting as it is grim, this detective picture shows off an intimate fascination with every aspect of the investigation; the crime, the suspects, the dreary rural backdrop, and—perhaps most of all—the men trying to solve the mystery. Ranking among the very best of its genre, Memories of a Murder keeps us on our toes, challenging our theories (and allegiances) with every scene.”
NEON
Something else exciting hidden deep in the press release is that Parasite’s distributor NEON has acquired the rights to Memories of Murder. NEON will organize a theater release of the 2003 film before it hits the home video market in its Criterion Collection form. We can’t wait to see what the crew at Criterion have in store for these movies when it comes to essays and extras. Not to mention the gorgeous artwork for which Criterion is legendary. The thing that we’re most happy about though: the fact we’ll be able to own Memories of Murder on a Blu-ray that doesn’t cost nearly $1000.
Header Image: Neon
