Movie Review: Mother (aka Madeo) (2009)

When one settles in for a Joon-ho Bong film, they probably never know what to expect. What they should definitely find is an extraordinarily entertaining two hours passing by. After bringing his name some stateside attention with The Host in 2006, he’s now brought his quirky brand of filmmaking joy to a different genre – the revenge thriller – with Mother.

As great as his sense of filmmaking is, and as sharp and intricately plotted as the film is, everything mostly comes together so well thanks to Mother’s star, Hye-ja Kim. There’s been talk about an American remake around the water coolers in Hollywood lately and it’s not surprising; there have also been talks about a remake of The Host as well.

While this would no doubt be a great vehicle to bring about an Oscar-worthy performance, why not leave well enough alone and just bring the deserved exposure to the original? Don’t try to fix what’s not broken. What Joon-ho Bong has created here is an exceptional drama layered with rich and dark thriller elements while enlightened by bursts of offbeat and hilarious moments of real humor. The opening sequence with Hye-ja Kim walking up to the camera alone in a field and beginning to dance springs instantly to mind.

Mother (Kim) lives a quiet life with her son, Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won). That is until Do-joon is struck by a car in the street and Do-joon follows the car with his best friend Jin-tae (Ku Jin) to a golf course because (as Jin-tae points out) that’s the only place a white Mercedes Benz could possibly be headed. After Jin-tae kicks off their rearview mirror and they proceed to gang up on the golfers, they all wind up at the local police station.

When one of the golfers calls Do-joon a “retard,” he erupts into a fit of violence and later we come to find out that Mother has always told him to defend himself whenever belittled. Back at home, Mother asks Do-joon why he hasn’t been taking his medicine and she force -feeds said meds while he’s urinating against a wall. Do-joon takes off for the evening to meet up with Jin-tae at a bar where Jin-tae never shows up. Heading home in a drunken stupor, Do-joon spies a short skirted high school girl walking alone and proceeds to follow her. After she ignores his advances Do-joon carries on home for the night where he shares a bed with Mother.

Article Author: Cinenerd

A Utah based writer, born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT for better and worse. Cinenerd has had an obsession with film his entire life, finally able to write about them since 2009, and the only thing he loves more are his wife and their two wiener dogs (Beatrix Kiddo and Pixar Animation). …

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