Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Bong Joonho's Mother is playing with English subtitles in Myeongdong (Cinus) and, I think, Yongsan (CGV). It's a terrific film.

Review here:

http://psychedelickimchi.blogspot.com/2009/05/mother-review.html

Anyone else seen it?

[Jammer113]

I saw it... I found that it had a rather artistic appearance, but ultimately, it was predictable and cliche. My Korean wife said that I gave it too much credit for saying that it had an artistic appearance. She said that if I had known the director's body of work, I would have called it a completely boring, predictable, cliche piece of hack work.

I can't say too much without giving away plot, but I found both the mother and son to be completely flat, unoriginal characters. The only character remotely interesting was the son's best friend.

It would be ok if the movie were just.... uninspired, but many of the scenes of the film were also quite revolting. A combined lack of artistic merit and revolting scenes makes this film difficult to recommend.

It wasn't all bad.. separating the cliche script and the bad directing out of the equation, I liked the acting all right. It was funny at points, too... it felt like a movie that tried to be a high-quality, independent, artistic film... it was just missing any sort of art.

[VanIslander]

The premise of the film, as a student understood it from the previews, was intriguing enough to spontaneously consume a class of mine with lively student discussion of possible endings. The students got pretty creative, some of them suggesting storyline developments that'd make for a great film.

I'd like to hear how exactly the story went. As soon as one of the students in that class sees it, I'll find out.

[michaelambling]

[Sector7G]

I saw it without the subtitles, and had to rely on my Korean friend for some parts.

Say what you will, but predictable is the last thing I would call it!

I admit I thought it was heading that way at first, though.

[Misera]

I saw it yesterday with a bunch of friends.. all of the foreigners were like, 'it's pretty good..' while the korean friend was like 'it was disappointing.'

I don't think it was spectacular but it was still a good movie. I laughed a bit and times had my hands on my face going omg, and I didn't predict the ending. My friend mentioned it was disturbing.. and I agree, it was a bit disturbing.

[ashland]

i went last night and saw this movie 마더. and i am so glad i did. i loved Mother so much more than i thought i would. it was a pretty enjoyable movie... better than any movies that i saw in the states lately. even as the movie started, i wasn�t sure if it was something i would like. it was very kim hye ja 김혜자, and so some of it seemed really cheesy to me. but as the movie went on, i just fell more and more in love with it - and the story... then i got sucked into the movie.

oh, let's just say that won-bin 원빈 is one sexy best. dang, he was hot in this movie evn though he played the retard!!

[VanIslander]

[mayorgc]

can somebody post a review/plot synopsis with spoilers? Why is this movie so disturbing and what's so "shocking" about this movie? The one review said that it doesn't really have a twist ending.

[earthbound14]

I had mixed feelings about this film.

Did I really like it?
Was it boring?
Was I really that wrapped up in the tale?

The movie did grab my attention for most of it but the ending was a little too long and lost me (I just didn't enjoy the ending as much as the beginning).

I wouldn't say the film was cliche compared to western films. It was cliche compared with Korean films though. The bad cops, dim witted suspect and rural setting from Memories of Murder, it also reminded me of Sympathy for Mister Vengeance with its gritty tone and messed up story. There were some elements of tension from The Chaser, the loving mother and dim witted son from Marathon and even the emotional nuttiness (and undying devotion) of You are my Sunshine. The problem is that the bulk of the films this movie seems to have drawn inspiration from were based on real life. This movie is entirely fiction and as such lacks the punch of those films about the 'real Korea'.

It did have artistic elements and it was a very dark view of life from the poverty stricken places of Korea. While I can't say it was accurate (I've spent little time, if any, in slums and poor villages in Korea) it did visually show some places many of us may not normally see during out stay in Korea. I liked this. The movie also dealt with issues that I think are sensitive to Koreans and not something most films would portray. This brutal (even honest) look at the other side of Korea was enjoyable (even if it may not have been accurate). I hated films like Taeguki and the film about the Gwangju massacre. They did nothing to show what really happened.

I think any review could go either way, but in the end I think this is what "Bat (The Thirst)" should have been. It is worth watching to see what you might think of it.

[ashland]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[Adjumas Cheekbones]

[dean_burrito]

[crossmr]