#BongHive, assemble! Fresh off the filmmaker’s big Oscar win comes news that Bong Joon-ho‘s Parasite and Memories of Murder are both headed to the Criterion Collection. Parasite, which just won Best Picture, was recently given a pretty bare-bones Blu-ray release, while Memories of Murderhas never had a U.S. Blu-ray – until now. Neon, who distributed Parasite, also snapped up the rights to Bong’s 2003 film, and plan on re-releasing it in theaters before it arrives on Blu-ray.
Good news for people who like good movies (and physical media): Parasite and Memories of Murder are both headed to the Criterion Collection. Even if you’re not overly familiar with the work of Bong Joon-ho, you’re likely familiar with Parasite, since it just scooped up several Oscars. The film “set amidst the two families, the Parks, the picture of aspirational wealth, and the Kims, rich in street smarts but not much else,” won Bong Best Director while also winning Best Foreign Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture.
Parasite just received a Blu-ray release this month, but the packaging was rather slim – there’s only one special feature. Bringing the movie to Criterion all but ensures we’re going to get a more detailed release. The only real question is: When? The fact that Parasite‘s normal Blu-ray release was so recent makes me think we might have to wait a while to see this Criterion.
Meanwhile, Bong’s 2003 crime-mystery Memories of Murder is also headed to Criterion, and we’ll probably see that sooner. The film, which chronicles the true story of Korea’s first serial murders, marked the first time Bong and frequent leading man Song Kang-ho worked together. Neon, who also distributed Parasite, picked up the rights to Memories of Murder last year, and announced that they planned to re-release the film in theaters before Blu-ray. There’s no date set yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the re-release and Blu-ray arrived sometime before this year is over.
These two Neon titles join Neon’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which was also previously announced as joining the Criterion Collection. Criterion also recently announced they were bringing recent Netflix films The Irishman, Marriage Story, American Factory, and Atlantics to the collection. Netflix is the home of another Bong Joon-ho film, Okja, so here’s hoping Criterion gets around to releasing that as well. And then they might as well go ahead and release all of Bong’s other movies, too. Please.
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