Mother (2009)

VERDICT:
8/10 Helicopter Moms

Man, chalk up another one for South Korea.

Mother is about an aging back-alley acupuncturist whose mentally handicapped son winds up being scapegoated for the murder of a local High School girl. She goes to the cops, they turn out to be corrupt and unwilling to re-open the case, she goes to a lawyer, he’s about as useful as a noose, and before long she realizes that if she’s ever going to vindicate her boy, she’s gonna have to take matters in her own hands, whatever the cost may be.

So this here is the sophomore full-length effort by South Korean wonder boy Bong Joon-ho (or Joon-ho Bong, I really have no idea), a guy who I hear has been kicking a whole lot of ass since his debut, The Host, ended up being the biggest thing to hit S.K. since…well, I don’t know what. They did host the Summer Olympics back in ’88, so that was probably a big deal. God, I’m sheltered…

Anyway, I wish I had more to say on the guy, but as it sometimes happens when I try to multitask watching a subtitled movie while surfing the internet (horrible idea), I never really gave The Host the fair shot it deserved and still to this day don’t have much of opinion on the matter outside walking away from it with a vague sense of satisfaction that I couldn’t put my finger on. But after learning from my mistakes and giving Mother my full, undivided attention this past weekend, I think I’m gonna be following suit with The Host again any day now.

Now, this is one crazy little movie. Based on the trailers, I went into this thinking I knew exactly what the tone was gonna be and what I was setting myself up for (something along the lines of The Lives of Others), but then the opening credits boot up and we’re treated to a completely unexplained and strangely awesome solo interpretive dance routine from our vigilante mom in the middle of a beautiful open field. It’s weird, it definitely isn’t the way The Lives of Others starts out, and as soon as I double-checked to make sure I popped in the right disc, I smiled and realized that I was in for something else.

And that right there is kinda Mother in a nutshell. It blends this otherwise very serious situation about a seemingly victimized kid who has no means of defending himself from the fate that befalls him and his poverty-stricken mother who will walk to the ends of the Earth and back to prove to the world that her helpless son is an innocent man with this quirky, deadpan and oddly tragic sense of humor that does a great job of taking the edge off and in turn accentuating the seriousness of the situation when there really isn’t a whole lot to laugh about. It can’t be easy to juggle these conflicting tones from start to finish while cranking up the suspense and keeping the audience guessing with each new turn, but Bong’s pretty much the man when it comes to this and it’s a big reason why this movie stands out from your everyday South Korean murder mystery.

It’s also a visual stunner not only when it comes to the cinematography, but apparently the South Korean countryside is effing gorgeous, too. Who knew?

The acting is also great from everyone involved, and considering that I tend to have a hard time judging whether or not someone’s got chops when I have to read all their lines at the same time, that sure counts for something. But the real dramatic force here is Kim Hye-ja as the mother, and not just because she’s such a kickass dancer. She’s an emotional powerhouse who gets it done without going overboard and it really is that much cooler when the junior detective on the case is the one woman you’d probably never imagine in the part. Great job.

I thought I knew exactly what to except from Mother, but aren’t the best surprises always the ones you don’t see coming? It takes a bit to get going, but once things start to unravel, it gets awfully intense and it’s hard not to get caught up in wanting to see how it all plays out.

Bong Joon-ho, man. This guy’s alright. Probably the coolest guy named “Bong” that I know.