Mother

Madeo

(South Korea, 2009, 129 mins, 35mm)

Wisconsin Premiere

cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yoon Jae-moon, Jun Mi-sun, Song Sae-beauk, Lee Young-suck, Moon Hee-ra, Chun Woo-hee, Kim Byoung-soon, Yu Mou-young
writer: Bong Joon-ho, Park Eun-kyo
cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo
editor: Moon Sae-kyoung
executive producer: Miky Lee, Katharine Kim, Moon Yang-kwon
producer: Moon Yang-kwon, Seo Woo-sik, Park Tae-joon

Although Bong Joon-ho’s exceptional skill as a director of crime thrillers is deftly present here, his appreciation of a mother’s love — and the lengths to which this mother will go to protect her son — make this film a complex moral puzzle with a crisp plot and surprising emotional notes. Do-Joon is a rather slow fellow, coddled and doted on by his herbalist mother Hye-Ja (played by Kim Hye-ja, well-known on Korean television for playing maternal roles). A local schoolgirl is found dead on a roof, arranged for all the town to see. Do-Joon was seen talking to her during a night of heavy drinking, and is enough of a dim-wit to sign a confession. Off to prison he goes. Hye-ja’s maternal instincts kick into high gear as she tries to convince everyone of his innocence. Bong mashes up humor, irony, melodrama, and suspense as mom takes it upon herself to investigate suspects and find out who the killer is. “Knottily plotted and blackly comic, it plays out like some lost Edgar Allan Poe story retooled as a Douglas Sirk–style portrait of maternal suffering.” — Jason Anderson, eyeweekly.com. 2009 Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, São Paulo Film Festivals.

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