AllMovie

Memories of Murder is a police procedural based on the actual case of the first recorded serial killer in Korea's history. The murders began in 1986 in Hwaseong, a small village south of Seoul, and continued for several years during a time of political upheaval in South Korea. Detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), an overconfident local cop, is assigned to the case, taking along his partner, Detective Cho Yong-koo (Kim Rwe-ha), whose interrogation methods involve covering his boot with a cloth so it won't leave scratches on detainees' necks. As the pair set their sights on a suspect (Park Noh-shik), they are joined in their investigation by Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung of Turning Gate), a young detective from Seoul who volunteers to work on the case. Park resents his presence, but Seo quickly realizes that the duo have the wrong man. As the police department endures a scandal and the hunt for the killer leads to several dead ends, the detectives become more desperate and the case begins to take a devastating toll on their lives. Directed by Bong Joon-ho, Memories of Murder was a huge box-office hit in South Korea. The film won several awards at the 2003 San Sebastián Film Festival, and was also shown at the 2004 New York Korean Film Festival.