Overview of Mother

‘Mother’ is a South Korean movie directed by Bong Joon-ho. It features Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin in lead roles. It follows the story of a mother’s search for the truth about the murder case of a young girl whom her mentally retarded son is accused of killing. The movie was released on 16 May 2009 in Cannes and on 28 May 2009 in South Korea in South Korea.

Profile

Cast

• Kim Hye-ja as Mother
• Won Bin as Yoon Do-joon
• Jin Goo as Jin-tae
• Yoon Je-moon as Je-moon
• Jeon Mi-seon as Mi-seon
• Song Sae-byeok as a detective
• Lee Young-suk as the junk collector
• Moon Hee-ra as Moon Ah-jung
• Chu Woo-hee as Mi-na
• Kim Byung-soo as the detective team leader
• Yeo Moo-young as Do-joon’s lawyer
• Lee mi-do as Hyun-teo
• Kim Jin-goo as Ah-jung’s grandmother
• Lee Jung-eun as Ah-jung’s relative with glasses
• Hwang Young-hee as the pregnant relative of Ah-jung
• Kwak Do-won as charcoal fire man
• Ko Kyu-pil as Ddong Ddong

Synopsis

The movie tells the story of an unnamed single mother living with her intellectually disabled son, Yoon Do-joon. To raise her son, she works as a herb seller and an illegal acupuncture therapist for women. She claims that her acupuncture therapy can wipe out bad memories.

Yoon Do-joon is physically strong despite his intellectual disability. He easily becomes irritated, especially if anyone smokes at him and fights with whoever displeases him.

His only friend is a local thug named Jin-tae. One day a car hits Do-joon and drives away. An angry Do-joon and Jin-tae follow the car, and they reach the parking lot of a golf training ground. There, they find the car parked, and Jin-tae breaks its side mirror. Later, they pick up a fight with the car owner and its passengers.

Soon the police arrest them for damaging the car and attacking the passengers. In the meeting conducted at the police station, Jin-tae accuses Do-joon of breaking the car’s mirror. Therefore, the car owner claims compensation from Do-joon, but his way of talking irritates Do-joon, and it leads to a fight.

When they get released from police custody, Jin-tae takes Do-joon to a bar. Do-joon trusts Jin-tae like the way he trusts his mother, and he obeys whatever Jin-tae tells him. Therefore, it is his hobby to manipulate Do-joon every time. At the bar, Do-joon methodically repeats the comments that Jin-tae makes without knowing the meanings. He mocks Do-joon for behaving like a kid rather than sleeping with women. Do-joon is too innocent to interpret the actual meaning behind his comment. Therefore, he replays that he is sleeping with his mother.

After a while, Jin-tae leaves the bar while Do-joon sits there drinking. From the bar, Jin-tae goes to the golf training ground to pick up the golf club that he threw into the pond during the fight with the car owner. Meanwhile, the bartender kicks Do-joon out of the bar when it is time for closing.

From the bar, he heads to his house. On the way, he sees a high school girl walking alone on the country road. He goes after her, talking dirty, but she pays no attention to him. When she goes inside an old building, Do-joon goes back to his house and sleeps with his mother.

The next day, the village wakes up by hearing the death news of Moon Ah-jung, the girl that Do-joon followed last night. The police find her dead body from the top of an old house. Afterwards, the police take Do-joon into custody after collecting evidence from the scene. Without realizing the seriousness of the crime that is blamed upon him, Do-joon confesses that he is the killer when questioned several times.

The news was unbearable for his mother, and she believed in the innocence of her son. She goes to see Do-joon at the police station, but he tells her about the incidents that happened in his childhood when she enquires him about the murder. She approaches a police officer for help, but he turns her down due to the strong evidence that they got against Do-joon.

However, the mother is determined to save her child. She hires a lawyer to prove the innocence of Do-joon, but her efforts become fruitless when Do-joon refuses to cooperate with the lawyer. Though she becomes angry with her son, she later calms down and helps him recollect his memory of the incident.

After their conversation, the mother becomes suspicious of Jin-tae. She goes to Jin-tae’s house to search for evidence. By the time she discovers the golf club, she hears the voice of Jin-tae behind the doors. She hides in the cupboard before Jin-tae enters the room with a girl. She waits inside the cupboard until they fall asleep and later escapes with the golf club. She submits the golf club at the police station, but it provides no evidence other than a lipstick stain. She comes out of the station in desperation.

She confronts Jin-tae when she reaches her home and asks for his forgiveness for suspecting him. Jin-tae, on the other hand, also wishes to prove the innocence of Do-joon. Therefore, he offers his help in finding the truth.

To learn more about the dead girl, the mother starts enquiring about her from her classmates. From them, she learns that the dead girl is known as the ‘rice cake girl’ who lived with her grandmother in an old house. She was in love with a boy at school. For a living, she sold her body in exchange for rice. Also, she had a bad health condition that made her nose bleed often. She saved the photographs of her partners on her mobile to blackmail them in the future.

The mother obtains the dead girl’s mobile from her grandmother after giving her money. She goes to see Do-joon with the mobile while showing the photos of men that were taken in the girl’s phone, Do-joon recognises an old man.

She finds the house of the old man and introduces herself as an acupuncturist sent by the government to treat the poor and old people. The old man says it is not for his body but for his heart that is in pain. He starts narrating the events that happened on the night that the girl was murdered.

On the crime night, the girl reaches the deserted old house to see the old man. He was waiting for the girl with a packet of rice in exchange for physical relations. The dirty talks of Do-joon irritate the girl, and after entering the house, she throws a big rock, saying that she does not like men. Her response makes Do-joon angry, and he throws back the rock to her. Unfortunately, it hits her head, causing her death. Later, Do-joon takes her body and places it on the rooftop.

After finishing his story, the old man takes his phone to inform the police about the case. Overwhelmed by listening to the old man’s story, the mother strikes the old man on his head and later sets his house on fire.

A few days later, a police officer comes to the mother’s house to inform her that the police have captured the real culprit of the murder. She accompanies the police officers to the station and later goes to see the culprit.

Inside the cell, she sees Jong-pal, the lover of the dead girl. He was captured by the police on the basis of discovering the dead girl’s blood on his shirt. She realises that Jong-pal is also intellectually disabled and feels sorry for him for not having anyone to fight for his justice. She returns with her son Do-joon from the police station, and while passing by the burned-down house of the old man, Do-joon picks up the rubbles that interest him.

The mother starts to feel guilty for sending an innocent and intellectually disabled boy to jail. Therefore, to lighten the guilt consciousness in her heart, she decides to go on a trip. At the bus station, Do-joon gives her the lost acupuncture box that he discovered from the rubble at the old man’s house and tells her to be more cautious.

She sits inside the bus numb and shocked while the other passengers dance to the music. Later, she uses her needles to cure her sorrows and joins the other passengers.

Theme

The movie ‘Mother’ explores themes like motherhood, maternal love, morality, and justice. The mother in the story is unnamed, representing any mother who protects their children at all costs. When she ventures into the search for the truth behind a murder case, she becomes helpless to reveal the truth and murders an old man to protect her son.

The film discusses the moral conflicts that the mother encounters while protecting her son. Also, it shows the hardships that a parent of an intellectually disabled child has to undergo for the safety of their children.

Awards

Interesting Facts about Mother

1. In the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, the film ‘Mother’ was nominated in the Un Certain Regard shortlist.
2. The movie was a box-office hit in South Korea and the movie earned a profit of 16,283,879 US dollars with a total of 3,003,785 theatre admissions.
3. The movie occupied the 6th place in the most-watched movies of 2010.
4. It was premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (US) in 2010.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of the movie ‘Mother’?
   Bong Joon-ho.
   
2. When was the movie ‘Mother’ released?
   The movie was released on 28 May 2009 in South Korea.
3. What is the Instagram ID of Won Bin?
   @_won.bin_.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Jin Goo?
   @actor_jingoo.