“Mother”: Korean neorealism?

“Mother” – (2009, South Korea, 128 minutes – rated R)

The film opens with “Mother” (Hye-Ja Kim) walking through a field, stopping and then dancing to a theme by Byeong-woo Lee, a remarkable composition of musical motives evoking works by such diverse artists as Nino Rota, Roque Banos, Nick Cave or Frank Tetaz.

Byeong-woo Lee playing the piece live:

It starts with a cinematic work of art, further enhanced once it is revealed what Mother just did.

The scenery, as in much of the film, is not much to look at. Throughout “Mother”, it is dreary in shades of gray, as is life, which pulls you in towards the characters, Mother and her son, who are disarmingly engaging and disquieting at once, creatures of instinct.
Mother tends to her herbal shop and illegal acupuncture services while watching her grown son like a hawk filled with worry and regret. Her son Do-Joon (Bin Won), who has a child’s mind with a teenager’s urges, hangs out with Jin Tae ( Ku Jin) an apparent no-good punk who will turn out to be more than he seems.

Watch the trailer here:

One evening, Do-Joon walks home after getting drunk and follows a teenage girl through the town’s streets, calling out to her in his awkward teenage manner. She throws a rock at him, forcing him to walk away dejectedly.
The following day, her body his found on a roof, her head smashed. A piece of physical evidence found nearby points to Do-Joon and he is arrested.
“Mother” is a radical departure for director Joon-ho Bong, whose “Host” also received critical acclaim.
Previously his interest laid with stories developing around a single event, this time, he “choreographed” a conflagration ignited by the murder and resulting arrest. Past secrets, hoped to be forgotten, are revealed in nuanced performances of great subtlety.

It also represents a departure for Hye-Ja Kim, who played mothers throughout her career, though never with such a dark combination of instinct and feeling. She also looks a lot like ‘Beat’ Takeshi, but reminds me of the titular character of “Umberto D”…
There is humor in “mother” as well, which I half expected would put me off, mixed in with satire and tragedy as it is, but didn’t: I was actually primed not to like “mother” because I felt disappointed by “Host”. Now I think I’ll watch it (Host) again.
What sums up for me the way “mother” works so well and grows on you is Byeong-woo Lee’s theme which begins with an Asian beat followed by a Latin motive and more, so much cross-cultural material in this film, it is something to be felt, to me like Fellini at his best. Why, Victor Hugo and Emile Zola also would be impressed.

“Mother” gets five jellybeans.