Mother

Eastern Eye (2010)

R4 DVD

Korean subtitled in clear English

Director Bong Joon-Ho has taken a change of direction after his successful monster movie The Host to give us this story of the seedy side of life in a Korean village.

Do-Joon is a village lad, slightly retarded. His mother is an unlicensed local herbalist and acupuncturist, although some of her remedies appear to be a bit dodgy. She is obsessively protective of Do-Joon, to the point that you wonder if she isn’t a little off-balance herself. I wondered if part of Do-Joon’s mental problems came from the herbs that his mother keeps feeding him, but more of that later. Do-Joon has an anger problem and one day when he is hit by a passing car he loses control and attacks the car and its occupants. This brings him to the attention of the local police.

When a local girl is found dead with her head bashed in, some questionable evidence links Do-Joon with the murder. The less-than-interested police think this is enough evidence and arrest him for the murder. Mother won’t put up with this. Do-Joon was drunk that night and can’t remember anything of his walk home but Mother is convinced of his innocence and sets out to find the murderer. The first suspect is Do-Joon’s best friend who was supposed to meet him that night but didn’t turn up. She puts him in to the police but he has an alibi for that night. He does, however, help Mother by rounding up some people who knew the dead girl well and he beats information out of them.

It seems the victim was not as innocent as everyone thought. She has been a local prostitute for many years and her customers have included some of the more important people in town. She had a habit of taking their picture on her mobile phone and the search is on for the phone which probably contains a picture of her murderer.

On a steady herb-free diet in prison Do-Joon’s memory is improving. Although the details of that night are still unclear he is remembering other things, such as his mother’s attempt to poison him when he was five. He disowns his mother.

Although her world is starting to fall apart, Mother perseveres with her investigation. She is actually making some headway when a witness to the killing appears. At the same time, Do-Joon’s memory returns. The results are not quite what she wanted. How far will Mother go to protect her son? She is faced with decisions no mother should have to make.

The film is a first-class murder mystery and loses nothing through being in Korean. The pace is maintained right through the film and at the end there are some savage little twists to the plot Kim Hye-Ja is highly skilled actress and it will be hard to forget her stern Mother figure striding purposefully through the village on her latest mission. Won Bin plays Do-Joon with just the right amount of befuddlement to make him a sympathetic character and to leave open the question of whether he is really retarded or just over-medicated. Even the village setting adds its part to the film – it is seedy and rundown and the weather always seems to be raining, Mother is a superb film and will appeal to all mystery fans.

The extras include the usual making of and behind the scenes. There is also an interesting interview with director Bong Joon-Ho regarding the origins of the film. He was struck by Kim Hye-ja’s acting skills but her parts were all conventional motherly types. He wanted to show the other side of motherhood, the darker and more intense side, and she accepted the part. She said that most young directors had just told her “You know what to do” and she enjoyed a part that was so different and challenging.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 4 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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