#won bin

a psychoanalysis of an oedipal relationship between kim hye-ja’s nameless Mother and won bin’s mentally-handicapped do-joon, mother is a movie that i unfortunately could not love as much as i wanted to. perhaps its because i’m not a fan of kim hye-ja’s over the top acting (the same reason why i stopped watching the light in your eyes), that a character film built around her was bound to bore and frustrate me with her shaky voice and breathing. the plot was actually predictable with plenty of tropes.

bong’s films are sometimes about post-traumatic castrated males, with a good dose of social ire and commentary. but not really in mother. mother centers around the twisted and overbearing relationship between mother and child, that found little resonance or empathy in me. it offered no critique of people’s attitudes to the intellectually disabled (a rather kind depiction actually), slight critique of the welfare support for single mothers, and more criticism for the bumbling detectives and forensics for clumsily resolving the murder (a trope that is tired and more effective in memories of murder).

unfortunately won bin’s acting could not come to the fore, jin goo was one-dimensionally constructed, the police incompetent (but we already knew that, right), the schoolgirls nubile (waiting for a bong film that undoes this), so all we’re left with at the heart is kim hye-ja’s unloveable character with an over the top acting style that i don’t appreciate. chun woo-hee was the standout for me. – 3/10