Mother (Madeo)

Dir. BONG Joon-ho

“The film is labyrinthine and deceptive, and not in a way we anticipate. It becomes a pleasure for the mind.”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times 24^th March 2010

“…it's elegant, witty, tightly plotted and absolutely gripping. If Almodovar made a Hitchcock movie by way of Twin Peaks it would turn out like this.”

Damon Wise, Empire Online 16^th May 2009

BONG Joon-ho follows on from his 2006 smash hit monster movie, The Host, with Hitchcockian noir film Mother. 

The director revisits themes of murder, the innocent man and decaying small town Korea which made him a talent to keep an eye on with Memories of Murder.  This time instead of the focus being bumbling police detectives it is an aging mother trying to prove her, intellectually slow, son’s innocence. 

The body of a teenage girl is discovered with evidence pointing to the murderer being the local ‘village idiot’, Do-joon played by WON Bin (The Man From Nowhere).  He is quickly snapped up by the Police, wishing to close the case quickly and easily, outside of his mother’s herb and spice store.  KIM Hye-ja, known only as Mother in the film, a highly respected actress in her home country, is positive about Do-joon’s innocence and undertakes her own investigation into the murder.  Along the way she encounters corrupt officials, opportunistic money grabbing lawyers and has to do things that she would have never considered before.

The film has been praised worldwide at numerous festivals including Cannes 2009, London’s BFI film festival as well as winning awards at the Spirit Independent Awards and the Asian Film Awards for best actress, film and screenplay.  The film does centre on a large amount of topics that Memories of a Murder covers but quickly surpasses the previous film in every way.

Originally scheduled for a DVD release it has now been announced that Mother will be screening at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Curzon Cinema chain from the 20^th August. 

Mother (Madeo) Dir. BONG Joon-ho

Distributor: Optimum Releasing

Rating: 15

Length: 128mins

Contains scenes of a violent nature

Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)

The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH

20 – 22, 25 – 29 Aug 2010

£9 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

http://www.ica.org.uk/25546/Film/Mother.html