10 Crime Films Based On Real Events

One of the earlier pictures from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, Memories of a Murder documents Korea’s first serial murders in history, and tells the story of two small town cops trying to solve the crime. The story starts in 1986 where a young woman is found gagged, raped and dead, it’s the second crime of its type and Detective Park Doo-Man and Cho Yong-Koo are sent to investigate. The detectives themselves are largely useless, but what unfolds is a vicious chain of events that terrorises the safety of women in Korea.

The murders themselves were largely publicised across the country and still fairly recent news when the film came out, but Joon-ho manoeuvres the hardships of true crime by telling the story from the perspective of the detectives. The effect that the investigation has on their lives is harrowing and desperation is brought to the forefront of the picture. Throughout Memories of a Murder, Korea is in a state of unrest and terror, facing wholly new fears and Joon-ho both breathes life to the emotions and tells the story of humans in one of his very best pictures.