Mother (new Korean thriller)

[Reno]

Saw the new film by Joon-ho Bong (The Host, Memories of Murder) yesterday. It looked and sounded fantastic and has a barnstorming performance by its relatively unknown leading lady at the centre, but somehow I always find his films slightly overrated. For me The Host got undone by it's jarring tonal shifts from monster movie, to slapstick comedy to tragedy, though some people really liked that.

At 135 minutes there wasn't quite enough substance there to justify the length and the plot only really gets interesting in the last 30 minutes. At it's heart it's a murder mystery combined with a melodrama about a mothers love and sacrifice that would have starred a Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford in the 30s or 40s. That said, it's my favourite film by Joon-ho Bong so far and there are a few great suspense sequences in there.

There is a lot of zany humor in the first third, most of it at the expense of a character with learning difficulties, which if not offensive is slightly OTT. Great ending though and an even better title sequence.

 

[Motown_ben]

I quite liked The Host though I agree with you that its tone changed a lot as it went on. I dont think iv seen memories of murder (though i might actually have an unwatched copy of it on my pc somewhere i think). Id deffo be up for watching this, will it get a UK cinema release of better to just torrent it?

 

[Reno]

I saw a preview at the cinema and think it's coming out here in August. If you are interested, it's worth seeing at the cinema as it's a rather beautiful looking film.

 

[Motown_ben]

Definately be keeping my eye out for this in the cinema then. Been ages since iv been to the flix, this might just tempt me.

 

[october_lost]

IMDB rating gives it an 8.0 and I remember distinctly Memories of Murder being a very good film. Might try and track this and Chaser down.

 

[Reno]

IMDB rating gives it an 8.0 and I remember distinctly Memories of Murder being a very good film. Might try and track this and Chaser down.

The Chaser by Hong-jin Na is absolutely brilliant. One of the best thrillers I've seen in the last decade.

 

[Motown_ben]

Iv just realised i have actually seen Memories of Murder and it was really really very good indeed.

I know the missus has watched the chaser as well and keeps telling me to I must watch it too, she said it was an ace thriller.

 

[october_lost]

The Chaser by Hong-jin Na is absolutely brilliant. One of the best thrillers I've seen in the last decade.

Watched it this evening and it was a blinder. Best film I have seen for some.

 

[butchersapron]

Chaser is shit. Generic korean action TV at it's worst. Mother is great, really interesting way of approaching things.

 

[Reno]

Chaser is shit. Generic korean action TV at it's worst. Mother is great, really interesting way of approaching things.

Isn't it a bit lazy to just make claims without a little bit of explanation ? I thought both were interesting, but The Chaser was a much better film IMO. It certainly wasn't shot the way TV is shot unless Korean TV is of an exceptionally high standart.

 

[butchersapron]

Isn't it a bit lazy to just make claims without a little bit of explanation ? I thought both were interesting, but The Chaser was a much better film IMO. It certainly wasn't shot the way TV is shot unless Korean TV is of an exceptionally high standart.

It is is yeah. They churn out these films, you just got one that was picked up on. There's plenty more.

Mother, i've posted about this here or elsewhere already. Not sure i need to do much else. You mention the genre clash humour/seriousness - it's well done, well characterised. That's it. A well made film.

 

[butchersapron]

Breathless is the film you should be watching

 

[Reno]

I've seen enough Korean thrillers to know that The Chaser is way above the cut and in Korea they seem to think so as well, because the film cleaned up in the Daejong awards in 2008, the Korean equivalent of the Oscars.

I'm not so sure that the characterisation in Mother was that stellar. Bin Won's broad, unsubtle comedy performance as the idiot son ended up grating on me and made it difficult to care for the character, which is clearly required at some point. The Chaser was a lot less uneven than anything Joon-ho Bong has done. Like Mother, it was a tremendously atmospheric and skilled piece of filmmaking, only without the jarring comedy antics.

I liked Breathless quite a bit, but didn't think it was superior to The Chaser.