Mother Review: You Don't Mess with the Context

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Kim Hye-ja, Weon Bin

Rating: **** out of *****, you don’t mess with the Asian context

Kim is a window who has long been taking care of his son, Do-jun, a 27 year old adult who is amnesiac and mentally slow. Do-jun unfortunately convicted of crime in a high school girl murder case. Mother, who tries all means to protect his son, went on a mission to prove his son’s innocence. As her investigation began, the story behind the murder case started to unfolded.

Here, the singular character’s love is so identifiable, and at the same time, so intense that it almost seems distorted. What’s depressing is, Do-jun constantly failed to understand and appreciate mother’s love, injecting much pathos to this story.

This South Korean film is unique in the way it builds the story. Instead of directly telling what happened, it leaves audience much guessing under context. Intense was created under the un-seen and un-told.

My favorite scene is when the mother fed herb medicine to Do-jun while he was peeing on the street. It is hard for anybody to come up with such a picture with such bizarre arrangement. The cut intensifies the way the story was build.

Besides, it is well-acted. Kim Hye Ja, who plays the mother, might not be well-known in Western world. But having been in the industry for 40 years, Kim is a luminous and brilliant actress who serves as a benchmark for many to inspire to.

I almost didn’t recognize the lead actor Weon Bin, one of Korean’s most popular and beloved actors. Weon abandons his Prince Charming boyish image and lends his role a lot of layers, convincing me that “Weon can act”.

About the director Bong Joon-ho: I give him even more respect after watching Mother, and meanwhile find the almost typical style in his film. Country setting, grayish background, high school girl as victims, mysterious killers, and mentally illness are common tags Bong would like to use.

This is a seemingly slow but actually intense and striking film. As the story ends, you probably will find yourself sitting in the theater, shocked, with a feeling of a bottle broken, a bottle that filled with bitter, sad, question, sympathy, and probably goose bumps.