Mother

Director: Bong Joon-ho Bong Joon-ho

Overview

A woman devoted to her son struggles to keep him from spending his life in prison in this drama from director Bong Joon-ho. Do-jun (Weon Bin) is a man in his mid-twenties who isn't especially bright and is easily led. Do-jun lives with his elderly mother (Kim Hye-ja), who loves him fiercely even though she has no illusions about his abilities or his bad habits. Do-jun spends much of his spare time with Jin-tae (Jin Gu), a borderline criminal who takes advantage of Do-jun's credulous nature, much to his mother's annoyance. When Do-jun is arrested by police and accused of the murder of a young woman, his mother is certain he couldn't have done it and sets out to prove her son's innocence to police detectives, who seem more interested in closing the case than researching other possible leads. At first, mother feels certain that Jin-tae has framed her son to avoid being punished himself, but as she digs deeper she suspects the truth is more complicated. Madeo (aka Mother) was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/20/2010
UPC:	0876964003070
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	R
Source:	Magnolia Home Ent
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:09:00

Special Features

Closed Caption; Making of Mother; Production design featurette; Supporting actors featurette; Cinematography featurette; Music score featurette

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kim Hye-Ja	Mother
Won Bin	Yoon Do-Joon
Goo Jin	Jin-tae
Yoon Jae-moon	Je-mun
Jun Mi-sun	Mi-sun
Song Sae-beauk	Sepaktakraw detective
Lee Young-seok	Ragman
Moon Hee-ra	Moon Ah-jung
Chun Woo-hee	Mina
Kim Byoung-soon	Chief
Yu Mou-young	Mr. Gong Suk-ho (lawyer)
Jung Young-ki	Thin high-schooler
Ko Kyu-phill	Fat high schooler
Lee Mi-do	Girl with scar
Kim Gin-goo	Ah-jung's grandmother
Kim Hong-jip	Jong-pal
Min Kyung-jin	Mr. Gong's Assistant
Cho Kyung-sook	Mina's Mother
Park Myung-shin	Shop owner
Yoon Yeong-geol	Detective
Kwon Byeong-gil	Golf-course Dean
Kwon Beom-tak	Golf-course Cart Driving Professor
Ha Deok-sung	Golf-Course Runaway Professor
Yum Dong-hyun	Golf-course Fat Professor
Lee Jung-eun	Ah-jung's relative
Yim Geun-ah	Ah-jung's relative
Hwang Young-hee	Ah-jung pregnant relative
Kim Mi-joon	Hye-ja's Customer
Hong Gyung-yeon	Hye-ja's Customer
Kim Tae-wan	Young Do-joon
Yoo In-soo	Prisoner
Cho Moon-ui	Prisoner Wearing Glasses
Kwack Byung-gyu	Charcoal Man
Lee Dae-hyun	Pharmacist
Lim Sung-mi	Ah-jung's Friend with Scar
Sung Joon-seo	Prison Guard Uncle Jong-do
Lim Young-guk	Journalist
Han Jee-Jee	Policewoman
Kim Min-jung	Miss Kim
Jang Pil-gyung	Middle Schooler Playing Game
Moon Bock-dong	Middle Schooler Eating Rice Cake
Kim Tae-hwan	Middle Schooler Eating Fish Cake
Lee Seung-hyung	Middle Schooler Wearing Glasses
Nam Sung-ho	Waiter at Manhattan
Lee Ok-joo	Employee at a Supermarket
Kim Jung-wook	Detective Wearing Leather Jacket
Kim Bo-gyung	Barmaid
Lee Byeol-im	Barmaid Mixing Drinks
Lee Hyun-joo	Barmaid Clapping Hands
Han Mee	Caddie
Choi Jae-won	Mr. Park Jong-pyo (prosecutor)
Lee Gyu-hyun	Dr. Yoon Jong-gu
Kim Gyu-nam	Man Watching Spot Investigation
Jang Yong-joo	Man Watching A Car Accident
Choi So-mang	British Boy
Oh Won-sik	Waiter at a Karaoke
Park Tae-joon	Prison Guard at Corridor
Yoon Hye-jin	Young Woman at a Coach Station
Jeong Dong	Detective
Kwon Ki-hoon	Detective
Shin Young-sik	Taxi Driver
Shin-Jae-young	Laundress
Park In-mok	Cook-pot at Grill House
Yoo Jong-hwan	Taxi Driver
Jin Goo	Jin-tae
Park Myeong-shin	Shop owner
Gweon Byeong-Gil	Golf Course Dean
Gweon Beom-taek	Golf Course Cart Driving Professor
Yeom Dong-hun	Golf Course Fat Professor
Lee Young-eun	Ah-jung's Relative
Lee Dae-yun	Pharmacist
Kim Bo-gyeong	Barmaid
Christopher Briscoe	British Boy's Dad
Bin Won	Actor
Lee Byeong-woo	Composer

Technical Credits

Park Eun-kyo

Joon-ho Bong

Bong Joon-ho	Director
Park Eun-kyo	Screenwriter
Seo Woo-sik	Producer
Miky Lee	Executive Producer
Jung Do-an	Special Effects
Yu Yeong-il	Special Effects
Yi Zeon-hyoung	Special Effects
Moon Yang-kwon	Producer
Park Tae-joon	Producer
Joon-ho Bong	Screenwriter,Screenwriter,Director
Choi Tae-yeong	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Bong Joon-ho's brilliant and beguiling Mother opens with the strange image of the elderly Kim Hye-ja -- the titular matriarch -- dancing, stone-faced, in a green field. Is she celebrating her power? Or is her dance mournful? It's impossible to know. While it may seem a mere stylistic flourish at the start, by the magnificent coda of the film, the image, for all its seeming opacity, makes perfect sense. On the surface, the elements of Mother seem familiar enough. In the hands of your average filmmaker, it's a family melodrama/mystery about an irresponsible but good-natured mentally challenged young man, Do-joon (Won Bin of Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War), who's accused of murdering a schoolgirl. In the face of hostility from the victim's family and apathy from the police, his devoted mother is determined to prove Do-joon's innocence, taking whatever measures are necessary -- charming some and threatening others -- to protect her boy. In his four features, Bong has shown a tremendous talent for taking seemingly straightforward cinematic ingredients and giving them a unique twist. Whether it's a serial-killer procedural in Memories of Murder or a giant monster running rampant in The Host, Bong defies audience expectation again and again with a boldly entertaining blend of genre elements and sociopolitical subtexts. Part of the triumph of Mother is that even fans who are expecting the filmmaker's genre-bending approach to the material will be consistently surprised and delighted by what Bong has in store. Bong, who co-wrote the script with Park Eun-kyo, doesn't rush into the action. The plot develops at a naturalistic pace, but from the beginning, as Mother -- while at her job -- distractedly watches Do-joon play with a dog across the street, there's a sense of impending disaster. Do-joon is involved in a minor car accident, goes in search of vengeance with his reckless friend, Jin-tae (Jin Goo of the fine gangster films A Bittersweet Life and A Dirty Carnival), gets arrested, and gets drunk. Seemingly unconnected details accrue, and the tension builds. As Mother determinedly investigates, we gradually gain a deeper understanding of her heartrending relationship with her son, and we come to know the characters surrounding them, including the murder victim. It's a dark but enjoyably suspenseful journey. If anything, the filmmaker blends genre elements and moods even more seamlessly than he has in the past. A scene where Mother knocks over a bottle while sneaking out of a sleeping suspect's apartment, and watches, frozen, in silent terror as the spilled water slowly oozes across the floor toward the potential killer's outstretched hand, is typical of Bong's high-tension mastery. Supporting performances by Won Bin and Jin Goo are wonderful, but this is Kim's movie. With grace and power, she makes us feel the intensity of Mother's pursuit, and every bit of pain, guilt, and sadness underlying her determination. As the puzzle pieces begin to come together, the film transcends its genre trappings, and a rich portrait of an insular society emerges, with its provincialism, its class and gender iniquities, and -- hand in hand with Bong's typical cinematic playfulness and wit -- a surprisingly potent sense of underlying despair. Mother has been compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, and for once, it's a valid comparison, as the sharp, suspenseful film delves into the complex psychosexual territory that Hitchcock made his trademark. But it's also singular, culturally specific, and clearly the work of a master filmmaker with his own unique style and impressive power.