Mother (2009)

From its opening sequence in which Mother is seen dancing an eerie jig in the middle of a field of tall grass, it was clear that this was not the film that I expected to watch. That out of place sequence spoke so much of a story of mystery, of humor, and of a certain depth whose explanation was not going to be given to the audience readily. It was a challenge both intellectually and emotionally, but in the end I found it offered abundant rewards for my patience.

Mother is played Hye-ja Kim, the sole parent of young man with special needs, named Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won). Set in a little South Korean village, a terrible murder rips the community apart, and all blame falls to this boy who not only doesn't have an alibi, but inconveniently (or conveniently, depending on how cynical one is) doesn't have the functions necessary to remember where he was. Do-joon is sent to jail and later to an asylum, and it falls to his mother to prove her child innocent in a town filled with inept cops and unhelpful lawyers. A poor woman, she uses what resources she has available to her--her unlicensed acupuncturing practice, and the help of her friends--to uncover the mystery of how the local teen prostitute was found dead on a roof, her skull bludgeoned in.

This is a labyrinthine story where twists, pitfalls and shady characters abound, and I promise it will challenge you on an ethical level. Director Joo-ho Bong skillfully creates layers of mood with subtlety, blending humor with horror almost unnoticeably, and adds in enough creepy visuals to keep you scratching your head in puzzlement. The story is angering, bewildering and ultimately jaw-dropping, with a final thirty minutes that blew me away. I did not realize how involved I was with its characters until the film's climax.

A lot of credit has to be given to Hye-ja, whose portrait of the ever-enduring mother is frustrating, but understandable. It is impossible not to sympathize with a little, old Korean woman trying to look out for her mentally handicapped son, but like I said, there are moments where you will be morally challenged even by her. This was a demanding role; she basically supported the film on her shoulders, and I think she made admirable work of it.

Although it isn't the type of film that you watch everyday (nor would you want to), I think it set out to traverse the deepest regions of our psyche to make sense of why a person commits murder. It is a subject that has been tackled countless times and will be looked at countless more, but "Mother" approaches it from a unique angle. I admire its gumption and its clear and fine execution. What it did is what every decent drama ought to do: it made me think, and it made want to climb into the screen and have a chit-chat with the characters about their actions. In essence, I saw real people in the screen.

3.5/4