MOTHER

(A.k.a. MADEO)

Mother (Hye-ja Kim) works in a local Korean store, and offers a sideline in acupuncture on the quiet. Her two jobs enable her to keep a constant watch over her grown-up son Do-joon (Bin Won), who loiters outside each day.

Do-joon is backward for his years and suffers from a failing memory. As a result, Mother is fiercely protective of him. She is distraught, then, when she witnesses him becoming the victim of a hit-and-run incident.

Luckily, Do-joon's best friend - ne'er-do-well Jin-tae (Ku Jin) - is the type who's dodgy enough to drag the dimwit to the nearby golf course and find the perpetrators. Their subsequent scuffle lands the pair in bother, and brings Do-joon to the attention of the local cops.

Unfortunately all of these events lead to a greater, more devastating incident. Do-joon gets drunk in the evening while waiting for Jin-tae to turn up for a night out. Jin-tae doesn't show, and so Do-joon leaves the bar alone, pissed and horny. While walking home he spies pretty schoolgirl Mi-sun (Mi-sun Jun) and follows her to an empty building. The following morning, Mi-sun is found dead.

With evidence stacked against him, Do-joon is arrested and taken into custody. Furthermore, the cops play on his simple disposition and elicit a confession out of him. Mother is predictably beside herself.

She sets out to prove her son's innocence - pointing the finger at Jin-tae, at a local tramp, at the startling number of philandering men with good reason to fear the contents of Mi-sun's mobile telephone; at practically anyone and everyone.

While Mother busies herself as an amateur sleuth, Do-joon becomes a target for bullies in prison who are amused by the way he flips whenever someone calls him "retard". This results in him taking a beating from other prisoners, which in turn helps to jog his memory about what happened on that fateful night ... and gives Mother more clues to work with.

MOTHER is a curiously low-key and reserved effort from Joon-ho Bong, considering his previous works such as the mischievously dark MEMORIES OF MURDER and the slick, FX-heavy THE HOST. But it's also similar in terms of boasting a very human and intimate story that propels the action.

Family and loyalty are large parts of Korean culture and Bong's interest. He explores both in a personal, candid manner, while always keeping one eye on the tiny details that will later prove to be devastatingly important in this thriller's resolve. Do-joon's innocence is constantly questioned (not least of all by the viewer) but Mother remains adamant that she will clear his name - whether he's guilty hardly seems to matter.

MOTHER is an odd, lovely-looking film with beautifully framed compositions (especially the exteriors, such as the opening gambit of Mother dancing in a field). Performances are intelligent enough to temper the potentially heavy-handed moments of humour, and Kim - renowned in her home country as a TV star - is simply fantastic as the increasingly desperate matriarch.

Those looking for more than fine photography and quietly absorbing human drama will find thrills in the form of murder, corruption, a sub-plot involving sex and blackmail, twists, red herrings, and a marvellously tense moment where Mother finds herself trapped inside a suspect's wardrobe.

Intelligent, warm and attractive - MOTHER has been called "Hitchcockian" in some quarters. The mixture of quirky characters, acute observations and wry humour amid the fundamental darkness make it easy to see why. And even though the finale lacked the punch I was hoping for, the film left me mulling it over for days afterwards.

Optimum's disc presents the film uncut in a crisp, clean 2.35:1 transfer. Presented in 1080p on an MPEG-4 AVC file, images are smooth and mainly sharp - some minor softness in medium shots aside. Definition is at its best in close shots, such as faces. Colours are slightly bolder here, blacks marginally darker than on the Magnolia disc recently released in America. But this presentation lacks the depth and clarity felt in Magnolia's transfer.

Either way, the film has what I'd assume is a deliberately washed-out look to it - there's no denying it looks nice here, but better - arguably truer to Bong's intentions - on the American release.

Korean audio comes in 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mixes. Both are good, especially the latter. Although the film isn't stacked with sound effects, the mix is savvy enough to channel even the most discreet sounds into a well-rounded, intriguing whole. Optional English subtitles are present and correct.

The disc opens up into a subtly animated main menu that echoes the rather TV movie-type DVD cover art. From there, a pop-up scene-selection menu allows access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

Of the extras, the best by far is a 43-minute Making Of documentary. This features some excellent on-location behind-the-scenes footage, along with rather good sound bites from enthusiastic cast and crewmembers. It's long enough to be more than valid, but it is worth pointing out that this is an abridged version of the 85-minute documentary featured on the Magnolia disc.

"The Transformation of Hye-ja Kim" is 7 minutes of footage detailing Bong and Kim working together on developing her fascinating character.

""Cast and Crew Reflect" is precisely that: recollections from cast and crew members, complemented by more behind-the-scenes footage. This is 6 minutes in length.

Finally, we get the film's original trailer.

Aside from the trailer, the extras are presented in standard definition, windowboxed in 1.33:1 and in Korean with optional English subtitles.

MOTHER is a very good film that works better on a second viewing. It's also further proof that Joon-ho Bong is one of the 21st Century's most promising directors. Optimum's blu-ray release is decent ... but the region-free Magnolia release is superior.

Also available on DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis