Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, Memories of Murder getting Criterion releases!
After bringing home the night’s top prize at last week’s Oscars, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is getting another major treatment as it and his 2003 crime drama Memories of Murder are both being added to the Criterion Collection!
RELATED: Mark Ruffalo Being Considered to Star in HBO’s Parasite
NEON and Criterion are partnering to issue special editions for both the four-time Oscar-winning Parasite, which made history as the first foreign language film to win Best Picture and the first Korean film to win Best Director, Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay, and acclaimed breakout hit Memories.
Parasite is set amidst the two families, the Parks, the picture of aspirational wealth, and the Kims, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks.
RELATED: Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films Blu-ray Set Coming From Criterion!
Memories, based on the true story of Korea’s first serial murders in history, follows two detectives (Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung) between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong as they race to find the culprit before more victims are found. Joon-ho adapted Kim Kwang-rim’s stage play of the same name with Shim Sung-bo and directed the feature, which has received wild acclaim from critics and audiences alike in the years since its release and is widely considered to be one of the best South Korean films of all time.
No release date has currently been set for the special Criterion Collection editions for both films, but both are currently available for purchase on various digital platforms!
