The masterfully-composed frames of Joon-ho Bong's latest always succeeds in drawing the eye - but just as often this unconventional thriller fails at drawing in the viewer's emotions. Centering on a mother's attempts to protect her mentally challenged son after he's accused of murder, superlative acting and direction can't redeem what feels like an underwritten story.
Hye-ja Kim plays the title role, an herbalist and unlicensed acupuncturist who finds herself up against a lazy, uninterested police force and a generally unsympathetic community after a teenage girl is murdered. Her son, Do-joon (Bin Won) becomes the prime suspect after being seen following the victim and leaving a piece of evidence with his name on it near the scene.
The story is in many ways the other side of Bong's brilliant Memories of Murder which showed rural police ineptitude attempting to right itself in the face of a series of heinous crimes. Here, it's the most powerless citizen attempting to right judicial ineptitude in order to save a victim who can't fully speak for himself. Do-joon's is a functional handicap, but he has lapses in memory, making it easy for the police to convince him to sign a confession.
Sadly, Bong's vision feels a bit unrefined and unfocused here. Where the previous film was able to glide expertly between farce and wrenching drama, here it feels like the tone bounces back and forth. It's hard to connect with Mother and son when the scenes tilt so frequently between scenes.
More problematic still, Do-joon never really rises above being characterized as a buffoon, making him an unsympathetic victim. He's cruel to his mother, ingratiating to his thug friend Jin-tae (Goo Jin), and all hands with any available female. Pop star Bin Won gamely does his best in the role, but his handsomeness is actually a distraction, transforming the character from someone with mental issues to one who's just unpleasant.
If there is one area the film succeeds it's in the performance by Hye-ja Kim as the title character. She's the linchpin that holds the film together, selling the treacly bits and conveying the absolute love of a mother for her son. Her performance deserves a better script, quite honestly.
The genius of Joon-ho Bong's previous work has been its means of manipulating moods and tone while expertly conveying character in a generally magnificent visual style. Unfortunately, Mother only delivers on the style and not so much the substance.
Hye-ja Kim plays the title role, an herbalist and unlicensed acupuncturist who finds herself up against a lazy, uninterested police force and a generally unsympathetic community after a teenage girl is murdered. Her son, Do-joon (Bin Won) becomes the prime suspect after being seen following the victim and leaving a piece of evidence with his name on it near the scene.
The story is in many ways the other side of Bong's brilliant Memories of Murder which showed rural police ineptitude attempting to right itself in the face of a series of heinous crimes. Here, it's the most powerless citizen attempting to right judicial ineptitude in order to save a victim who can't fully speak for himself. Do-joon's is a functional handicap, but he has lapses in memory, making it easy for the police to convince him to sign a confession.
Sadly, Bong's vision feels a bit unrefined and unfocused here. Where the previous film was able to glide expertly between farce and wrenching drama, here it feels like the tone bounces back and forth. It's hard to connect with Mother and son when the scenes tilt so frequently between scenes.
More problematic still, Do-joon never really rises above being characterized as a buffoon, making him an unsympathetic victim. He's cruel to his mother, ingratiating to his thug friend Jin-tae (Goo Jin), and all hands with any available female. Pop star Bin Won gamely does his best in the role, but his handsomeness is actually a distraction, transforming the character from someone with mental issues to one who's just unpleasant.
If there is one area the film succeeds it's in the performance by Hye-ja Kim as the title character. She's the linchpin that holds the film together, selling the treacly bits and conveying the absolute love of a mother for her son. Her performance deserves a better script, quite honestly.
The genius of Joon-ho Bong's previous work has been its means of manipulating moods and tone while expertly conveying character in a generally magnificent visual style. Unfortunately, Mother only delivers on the style and not so much the substance.
Really good review. I was pretty disappointed by this film, especially since the mood of the trailer reminded me of Memories of Murder. Mother comes nowhere close to that masterpiece.
Sadly, it's really hard to not measure this movie against Memories of Murder given how similar they are. And this one just comes out lacking.
What? A "better scrip"? No idea what you mean when the script is clever, intelligent, mature and full of interesting ideas. The moral dilemmas the character of the mother faces, the implications of her actions. That you are dismissing all this just speaks more about your lack of attention, not about the movie doing something wrong. Also, movies don't need charcaters you can "relate" to, that's what sitcoms and soap operas are for, a good movie needs an engaging character, and Mother has them. The entire process of the investigation was just a thrill to watch, how everything comes together, how every character, even the smallest, are rich on detail.
I love Memories of Murder, but Mother is far more ambitious in what is aiming at. Stop comparing the two and just judge each other for what they are, not for what they aren't.
No work exists in a vacuum and in this case "Mother" exists in a sort of continuity with "MoM."
Having said that, "Mother" remains part of that category of well-made movies that just aren't very good. In spite of its ambition it's not much in the way of a mystery and any moral dilemma is rendered moot when we know from the opening frames that the lead will do anything to protect her son.
I'll say again it lacks a character one can connect to - one whose story the viewer is interested in following for the duration of the movie. While Hye-ja Kim's performance is splendid, it's in service to a role that has very little in the way of shading.
A masterpiece, that needs to be seen twice at least to be fully appreciated. One of the 10 best movies of 2009, end of the story.
--but just as often this unconventional thriller fails at drawing in the viewer's emotions.--
That is a completely moronic statement. While I loved Memories Of Murder, perhaps more than this, this definitely has more emotional impact. I agree with some of your complaints about the Do-Joon character (although I don't think it lessened the film at all) but everything else you said comes off as ignorant.
I'm so sick of reviewers saying that there were no characters they could relate to (although I'm sure many mothers could relate to this one). It's become a bit of a reviewer cliche, and I generally dismiss those reviews as being written by pretentious know it alls who don't actually know that much about film at all. Sorry to be so harsh, and I haven't read any of your other reviews, so I can't say you're one of those people for sure, but with this one you certainly come off that way.
As for there being no characters interesting enough to carry viewers through the whole film... how high were you when you watched this? The mother was absolutely stunning in every aspect.
That isn't to say the film didn't have it's bad points, because it did, but you have seemed to criticize the aspects that make it stand out above other films.
Sorry, but this was a straight up awful, albeit well-written review.