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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
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55
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43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
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29
Collector, The
23
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80
District 9
61
Extract
39
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30
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34
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60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
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39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
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69
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58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
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42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
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86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Now In Theaters
58
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96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
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78
Afghan Star
61
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66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
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55
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76
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86
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13
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70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
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70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
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75
Crude
82
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67
Departures
xx
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71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Memories of Murder

Universal acclaim
Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Crime | Drama | Foreign | Mystery | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Joon-ho Bong
Kwang-rim Kim
Sung Bo Shim
Directed by: Joon-ho Bong
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 24, 2005
DVD: August 9, 2005
Running Time: 129 minutes, Color
Origin: South Korea
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim, Jae-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon, Seo-hie Ko, No-shik Park, Hae-il Park, and Jong-ryol Choi
Based on a true story, Memories of Murder is a Korean suspense thriller offering an unusual fusion of death and laughter, while recollecting truly nightmarish events. (Palm Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Host
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Suspenseful, surprising, and psychologically rich.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
It takes enormous skill to pull off such a high-wire act without diminishing the gravity of the situation, but Bong and his first-rate cast are up to the task.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
It's an altogether remarkable piece of work, deepening the genre while whipping its skin off, satirizing an entire nation's nearsighted apathy as it wonders, almost aloud, about the nature of truth, evidence, and social belonging.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Mariko McDonald
A haunting score and beautifully atmospheric cinematography by Kim Hyung-gu round out the achievements of this unique and engaging Korean thriller.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
What distinguishes Memories of Murder, setting it apart from rank-and-file thrillers, is its singular mix of gallows humor and unnerving solemnity.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Uses dark humor, incisive characterizations and social commentary to infuse its familiar detective tale with a distinctive flair.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
As exciting for its narrative twists and turns as for its Korean textures and rhythms.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Becomes something of a rainswept Korean koan on both the nobility and futility of persistence in the face of obviously insurmountable odds.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The script is as sloppy as Song's unkempt cop, sprinkled with intriguing ideas and imaginative details that, like the investigation, simply get lost in blind alleys.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bryan gave it a10:
Tremendous!
Eunice gave it a10:
I personally think this movie was better than The Silence of the Lambs as it contains more humour, and way, way better than Seve.
Doctor Evil gave it a10:
Definitely the best Korean movie i've seen. Wow, it was really good. Unbelievable.
Mink-coat Pimp gave it a10:
I was totally blown away by this movie. Every screencap from the movie is frame-worthy and the acting is supurb. The subtle comical tones go a long way in giving the viewer a break from the dismal and tragic undertone of the plot. Never have I been so satisfied with a blind rental, or a foriegn flick for that matter. A word of advice, watch the movie in its original language w/subtitles, because the dubbing is, as always unbearable.
Gregory H. gave it a0:
This thing was practically unwatchable--in fact I couldn't take more than a half hour of it. Dubbed into English and peppered with cutesy tough-guy supposed cop lingo, I wish I could have just watched in in Korean with English Subtitles. The poor dubbing made the characters seem laugable. The dialogue was pure vintage Starsky & Hutch-styled one guy hollering at all the other idiots and jerks, his words not mine. The critics MUST have all watched this film in its original incarnation, because no one in their right mind could heap any praise upon this butchered piece of crap.
KaKa gave it a9:
This was an amzing film! The cinematography and the acting blew me away - not to mention the plot and the story line it was based on. i loved the ending which was totally unexpecting for me - but i think was a wonderful way to end a plot such as this story line. The DVD extras that UMVD provides are decent - I enjoyed hearing what the actors had to say and I didnt expect there to be subtitles either! Bing, teh director, managed to grasp teh main bulk of teh mystery and present it to the general public and world in an unforgettable manner.
Jason B. gave it a10:
Great Film. I thought the greatest part of this film was the realistic emotions that are brought out. The pain these cops go through in the inability to find the killer, and their willingness to do anything (including force confessions) in order to find him, and to feel safe again. I read in another review that he didnt like the ending, I loved it. I thought it was the most honest part. And thats basically what happened in real life, which makes the ending even greater. I also loved the perfectly timed comedy. The use of comedy shows the true talent of Bong Joon Ho. I also loved the dichotomy of it being an Asian film, with many culturally unique aspects, and also being one of the most universal stories and films I have ever seen. There was nothing wrong with this film in my opinion. Definately my favorite film I have seen all year.
