Mother (2009 film)
Encyclopedia
Mother is a 2009 South Korean drama film
directed by Bong Joon-ho
, starring Kim Hye-ja
and Won Bin
.
to the town's women on the side. Her son Do-joon is shy, with an intellectual disability
. She dotes on him and scolds him for hanging out with Jin-tae, a local ne'er-do-well.
A high school girl is discovered dead on a rooftop in town, shocking the residents and pressuring the incompetent police to find the killer. With only circumstantial evidence placing Do-joon near the scene of the crime, the police are happy with their cursory investigation and arrest the boy. His defense attorney is unreliable, and the police trick Do-joon into signing a confession, leaving him facing a long jail sentence. The police could not figure out why and who would display the girl's dead body on the rooftop where the entire town is in plain view.
The mother, horrified and unconvinced that Do-joon is even capable of murder, gets involved in unraveling the details of the murder and the background of the victim to try and prove her son's innocence. She scours the town, uncovering salacious details of the girl's life, allying with Jin-tae, who was surprisingly sympathetic towards her plight, and unsettling everyone around her in her determined quest for justice. The mother's investigation and search for the real murderer takes her to an old man at his junkyard.
At the drop of a hint by an old man, the town's junkyard keeper, that Do-joon may have actually committed the girl's murder, the mother, in a fit of rage and denial, murders the old man and burns down the junkyard along with his body. Later on, the police, unbeknownst to the mother, captures who the police believe to be the real perpetrator of the girl's murder, and Do-joon is freed from the jail. By then, the mother could not deal with all her confused state of emotions, especially when Do-joon tells his mother that the reason why the killer may have left the girl's body on the rooftop is perhaps to allow the town's people to see her and bring some medical assistance.
The movie ends with a similar setting as the beginning where the mother is emotionlessly dancing away her weariness of the world around her.
category at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
. The film had its U.S. premiere in February 2010 as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
and received a limited U.S. theatrical release in March 2010.
at the 82nd Academy Awards
. Kim-Hye-ja won Best Performance by an actress for the film at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards
. It won the awards for best film, best screenwriter, and best actress at the 4th Asian Film Awards
. It won the award for Best Foreign Language Film
at the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.-Biography:He was born in Daegu in 1969 and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school, perhaps influenced by an artistic family He majored in sociology in Yonsei University in the late 1980s and was a member of the film club...
, starring Kim Hye-ja
Kim Hye-ja
Kim Hye-ja is an South Korean actress who starred in Bong Joon-ho film Mother in which she won best actress for the 4th Asian Film Awards.-Career:...
and Won Bin
Won Bin
Won Bin is a top South Korean actor and model.- Early life and beginnings :Won was born and raised in a hamlet in the north of Jeongseon in Gangwon-do, South Korea. He is the fifth and youngest child, with one brother and three sisters. His father was formerly employed in a mine and his mother...
.
Plot
Kim Hye-ja, a veteran Korean actress, plays an unnamed widow living alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while doing unlicensed acupunctureAcupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
to the town's women on the side. Her son Do-joon is shy, with an intellectual disability
Intellectual disability
Intellectual disability is a broad concept encompassing various intellectual deficits, including mental retardation , deficits too mild to properly qualify as MR, various specific conditions , and problems acquired later in life through acquired brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases like...
. She dotes on him and scolds him for hanging out with Jin-tae, a local ne'er-do-well.
A high school girl is discovered dead on a rooftop in town, shocking the residents and pressuring the incompetent police to find the killer. With only circumstantial evidence placing Do-joon near the scene of the crime, the police are happy with their cursory investigation and arrest the boy. His defense attorney is unreliable, and the police trick Do-joon into signing a confession, leaving him facing a long jail sentence. The police could not figure out why and who would display the girl's dead body on the rooftop where the entire town is in plain view.
The mother, horrified and unconvinced that Do-joon is even capable of murder, gets involved in unraveling the details of the murder and the background of the victim to try and prove her son's innocence. She scours the town, uncovering salacious details of the girl's life, allying with Jin-tae, who was surprisingly sympathetic towards her plight, and unsettling everyone around her in her determined quest for justice. The mother's investigation and search for the real murderer takes her to an old man at his junkyard.
At the drop of a hint by an old man, the town's junkyard keeper, that Do-joon may have actually committed the girl's murder, the mother, in a fit of rage and denial, murders the old man and burns down the junkyard along with his body. Later on, the police, unbeknownst to the mother, captures who the police believe to be the real perpetrator of the girl's murder, and Do-joon is freed from the jail. By then, the mother could not deal with all her confused state of emotions, especially when Do-joon tells his mother that the reason why the killer may have left the girl's body on the rooftop is perhaps to allow the town's people to see her and bring some medical assistance.
The movie ends with a similar setting as the beginning where the mother is emotionlessly dancing away her weariness of the world around her.
Cast
- Kim Hye-jaKim Hye-jaKim Hye-ja is an South Korean actress who starred in Bong Joon-ho film Mother in which she won best actress for the 4th Asian Film Awards.-Career:...
as Hye-ja - Won BinWon BinWon Bin is a top South Korean actor and model.- Early life and beginnings :Won was born and raised in a hamlet in the north of Jeongseon in Gangwon-do, South Korea. He is the fifth and youngest child, with one brother and three sisters. His father was formerly employed in a mine and his mother...
as Do-joon - Jin GooJin GooJin Goo is a South Korean actor. He does not study performing arts professionally. When he was student, he majored in advertisements...
as Jin-tae - Yoon Je-moon as Je-moon
Release
Mother competed in the Un Certain RegardUn Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
category at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
. The film had its U.S. premiere in February 2010 as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival...
and received a limited U.S. theatrical release in March 2010.
Awards
The film was selected as South Korea's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
at the 82nd Academy Awards
82nd Academy Awards
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
. Kim-Hye-ja won Best Performance by an actress for the film at the 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards
Asia Pacific Screen Awards
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is an international cultural initiative of the State Government of Queensland, Australia, through Events Queensland, to honour and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of Asia-Pacific to a global audience and to realise the objectives of UNESCO to...
. It won the awards for best film, best screenwriter, and best actress at the 4th Asian Film Awards
Asian Film Awards
The Asian Film Awards are presented annually by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to recognize excellence of film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinema.-History:...
. It won the award for Best Foreign Language Film
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*...
at the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
The 45th Loutzenhiser Awards, honoring the best in film for 2010, were announced on January 2, 2011.-Winners:Best Actor*Colin Firth – The King's SpeechBest Actress*Natalie Portman – Black SwanBest Animated Film...
.