Mother

My only previous exposure to Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho was the The Host, which was a highly acclaimed monster movie, but I wasn't impressed with. I was greatly impressed with his latest film, Mother, which is a challenging film about maternity.

Kim Hye-Ja is the mother in question. She is given no name in the film other than Mother. She struggles to get by as a seller of medicinal herbs and as an acupuncturist. Her son, played by Won Bin, is mentally challenged, and though he tries to be independent he tends to follow the lead of a dubious friend.

When Bin is arrested for the murder of a schoolgirl, with some damning circumstantial evidence, Kim goes into overdrive trying to clear his name. The story settles into a classic whodunit format, but then at a crucial moment deviates from that path, and becomes something far more interesting, and presents the question: "What would you do for your child?"

Bong, who also wrote the script, has created a wonderfully interesting film on two levels. One is the ethical ramifications of that question, and the other is as visual artist. There is a lot to admire here, from the mysterious opening shot of Kim in a meadow, slowly beginning to dance, to a series of three shots depicting puddling liquid--first urine, then water, then blood. He does this without overplaying his hand and being a show-off, a mark of maturity as a director.

Kim, a well-respected actress in Korea, gives a bravura performance in a movie that Bong wrote just for her. There is a scene in prison, when Bin remembers a moment when he was five and his mother tried to initiate a murder-suicide that just tears your heart out. The closing scene, when Bin hands his mother an incriminating tin, is played far differently, as her face only minimally registers the implications of what she understands her son to know. It's marvelous work in a great film.