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Mother

7.2

8,372

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Original title: Madeo (Mother)
Year: 2009
Running time: 128 min.
Country: South Korea
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Screenwriter: Bong Joon-ho, Park Eun-kyo
Music: Lee Byung-woo
Cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo
Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yoon Je-Moon, Jeon Mi-seon, Song Sae-byeok, Chun Woo-hee, Jo Kyung-Sook, Lim Hyung-Guk, Byoung-Soon Kim, Kim Gin-goo, Moo-yeong Yeo, Young-Suck Lee, Hee-ra Mun, Lee Mi-do
Producer: Barunson, CJ Entertainment
Genre: Drama. Mystery. Thriller | Crime. Maternity
Synopsis: Widowed for a long time, a mother lives alone with her only son. He is 28 years old, a shy and quiet young man. In the aftermath of a terrible murder, the woman's hopeless, helpless son becomes the prime suspect. There is no real evidence against him, but the police throw groundless suspicion at him. Eager to close the case, the police are happy with their cursory investigation and arrest the boy. His defense attorney turns out to be incompetent and unreliable. Faced with no other choice, his mother gets involved, determined to prove her son's innocence.

Rankings Position

#17 Best Korean Movies of all time

Awards: 2010: Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Actress (Hye-ja Kim). 2 Nominations

2010: Chicago Film Critics Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Lenguage Film

2010: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Foreign Language Film

2010: San Francisco Film Critics Circle: Best Foreign Language Film

2010: Satellite Awards: Nominate for Best Foreign Lenguage Film

2009: Mar del Plata Film Festival: Official Selection

Show 1 more awards

2009: Independent Spirit Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Film

Critics' reviews

"The film is labyrinthine and deceptive, and not in a way we anticipate. It becomes a pleasure for the mind (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"[It is] alternately dazzling and frustrating. Mr. Bong’s virtues as a filmmaker (...) can here feel like evasions or indulgences rather than fully thought-out choices."

Manohla Dargis: The New York Times
"It is a superb murder mystery, with twists coming thick and fast yet always at the right moments (...) [It creates] a sustained mood of claustrophobia and discomfort"

Maggie Lee: The Hollywood Reporter
"Bong invests even the minor characters with complex personalities (...) 'Mother' is rarely splashy with its style, but the shots are well-chosen"

Noel Murray: AV Club
"A chilling, intense character study. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Kim Newman: Empire
"A gripping psychological study (...) It's an arbitrary flourish of randomness, keeping us off balance and disturbed (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Peter Bradshaw: The Guardian
"The movie’s off-kilter story logic, pitch-perfect editing and beady compositional panache make it one of the most stylistically pleasurable in months."

Tim Robey: Telegraph

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