Mother (2009)

Mother

Directed by: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Hye-ja Kim, Won Bin, and Jin Goo

Released: 2009

Country of Origin: South Korea

Runtime: 128 min.

South Korea is becoming a hot spot of sorts for intelligent film-making that adds levels of depth to otherwise generic, genre films. Films like Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy, 3 Extremes, and Mother helmer, Bong Joon-ho's previous feature The Host, take plot lines that would normally equal formulaic thrillers, and infuse them with deep and profound ruminations on human desire, family ties, and the lengths people will go to avenge wrong-doing. One of the dangers of watching as many films as I do, is that eventually you begin to pick up on typical story line formulas that make it far to easy to see what's coming next. Eventually, what makes a film enjoyable becomes less a matter of a good story, and instead shifts to how a director will exploit and pull off a story arch you've experienced a dozen times. Then sometimes, if you're lucky, you see a film that defies all your plot expectations and breaks the movie formula mold altogether. These are the films that for me get a very special place in my heart, and South Korea seems to have a very strong stake in that territory.

Mother starts off simple enough, a young man with more than a few screws loose is arrested for a murder he may or may not have committed. Due to his simple nature, few people in the community think he is capable of such an act, but a clue that literally has his name written on it makes it hard to suspect anyone else. His mother pleads for his release, and tries to fight the charges, but she soon realizes that there is no one that will help or believe her. She then begins her own series of investigations into the crime, with some help from her son's friend Jin-tae, they slowly get closer to the truth of what happened. This is where things start to get complicated, and not in the ways you'd expect. When I say "complicated," your first instinct will go to plot, but the complexity is a moral one. How far will a parent go to protect a child? Is it possible to become as twisted as the crime you're trying to dis-prove? Can someone as simple as the son, even be aware and responsible for what he's accused of? The biggest question in the film is, if you were faced with the mammoth sized moral quandary that the mother is faced with at the end, would you do anything different?

The thing I appreciate most about these South Korean films, is their embrace of the darker elements of human nature. The characters have true moral complexity, that show even the noblest heroes can easily commit acts that are often considered villainous. There is no black and white, and while the "hero" may prevail, you're often left wondering, was it worth it? Since I was a child, I have always been drawn to darker side of humanity. The villains always interested me more than the "good guys," they seemed more complex, more real. From an early age, we are bombarded with this idea that there are two types of people, the good, and the evil. You're either on one side or the other, and if you straddle the line, you're a bad guy. I understand the reason for this, good and evil are key distinctions to have for a developing mind. Children need boundaries, and these story ideals are a great way to help kids learn that. Still, the child version of me wasn't really interested in all that, I still always opted to be the bad guy and kill everyone. Maybe I was just a dark child, or had that rebel urge when I was in grade school instead of high school, it's really hard to tell what exactly went on in my head back then. I like to think that I was some kind of super perceptive child, that somehow noticed the inherent flaw in the logic that things are that simple. What I'm trying to say with my ridiculously long tangent is, people are not simple, life is not simple, and it's that understanding that makes Mother far more then your everyday thriller.

FINAL VERDICT: This is definitely a must see. Bong Joon-hu is an excellent director, and one to watch out for in the future. His last film, The Host was a family drama dressed up like a typical giant-monster-attack film, and one of my favorites of that year. While embracing the darkness in our souls, he is also able to inject genuine humor that's effortless and never seems out of place. This one is darker then The Host, but not as extreme as some of the other films coming out of South Korea. If you like this, and think you can handle going a little further into the darkness, check out Park Chan-wook's Vengence Trilogy (Sympathy For Mr. Vengence, Oldboy, and Lady Vengence). It's far darker material, but very excellent and thought provoking.