Mother (2009)
“Madeo”.
Crime, Drama, Thriller |
Mother is a South Korean thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin. The plot follows a mother who, after her intellectually disabled son is accused of the murder of a young girl, attempts to find the true killer in order to get her son freed.
The film premiered on 16 May 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and was released in South Korea on May 28, 2009. It received very positive reviews from critics, who praised Kim’s performance, the direction and screenplay, and the film’s uniqueness.
An unnamed widow lives alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while conducting unlicensed acupuncture treatments for the town’s women on the side. Her son, Yoon Do-joon, is shy, but prone to attacking anyone who mocks his intellectual disability. She dotes on him and scolds him for hanging out with Jin-tae, a local thug. When Do-joon is nearly hit by a car, he and Jin-tae vandalize the car and attack the driver and passengers as revenge. Jin-tae blames Do-joon for the damage done to the car, and Do-joon is sued. His mother struggles with the burden of the debt.
On his way home from a bar late at night, Do-joon sees a high school girl named Moon Ah-jung walking alone and follows her into an abandoned building. The next morning, she is discovered dead on the rooftop, shocking the town and pressuring the incompetent police to find the killer…
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Writers: Bong Joon Ho, Eun-kyo Park
Stars: Hye-ja Kim, Won Bin, Goo Jin, Je-mun Yun, Mi-seon Jeon, Sae-byeok Song, Byoung-Soon Kim
►Cast:
| Hye-ja Kim | … | Mother |
| Won Bin | … | Yoon Do-joon |
| Goo Jin | … | Jin-tae |
| Je-mun Yun | … | Je-moon (as Jae-moon Yoon) |
| Mi-seon Jeon | … | Mi-sun |
| Sae-byeok Song | … | Sepaktakraw Detective |
| Byoung-Soon Kim | … | Group Leader |
| Woo-hee Chun | … | Mi-na |
| Gin-goo Kim | … | Ah-jeong’s Grandma |
| Moo-yeong Yeo | … | Lawyer Kong Seok-ho (as Ou-hyung Yum) |
| Young-Suck Lee | … | Elder at Junk Shop |
| Hee-ra Mun | … | Moon Ah-jeong (as Hee-ra Moon) |
| Mi-do Lee | … | Hyung-teo |
| Young-ki Jung | … | Kkang-ma |
| Gyu-pil Go | … | Ddung-ddung (as Kyu-phill Ko) |
| Hong-jib Kim | … | Jong-pal |
| Kyung-suk Min | … | Secretary |
| Kyung-Sook Cho | … | Mi-na’s Mama |
| Myung-shin Park | … | Chief |
| Young-gil Yoon | … | Field Detective |
| Byeong-gil Kwon | … | Former Dean of Golf |
| Beom-Taek Kwon | … | Golf Cart-Driving Professor |
| Deok-seong Ha | … | Fleeing Professor on Golf Course |
| Dong-hun Lin | … | Fat Professor on Golf Course |
| Jeong-eun Lee | … | Ah-jeong’s Eyeglasses Relative |
| Byeong-ah Im | … | Ah-jeong’s Fighting Relative |
| Hwang Young Hee | … | Ah-jeong’s Pregnant Relative |
| Mi-jun Kim | … | Laundry Shoulder Lady |
| Kyung-yeun Hong | … | Lady in the Laundry |
| Tae-won Kim | … | Young Do-jun |
| Chris Briscoe | … | (as Christopher Briscoe) |
| Pil-Kyeong Jang | ||
| Moon-Eui Jo | ||
| Jeong-wuk Kim | ||
| Seung-Hyun Lee | … | (as Seung-hyeon Lee) |
| Bok-dong Mun | ||
| Dong-hun Yum | … | Golf range instructor |
| Hyeon-ju Lee | … | Clapping room lady (uncredited) |
| Ok-ju Lee | … | Female mart worker (uncredited) |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia