Sunday, 11 May 2008

Mother (2007)

Korean title: 어머니는 죽지 않는다 (Eo-meo-ni-neun Jook-ji Anh-neun-da)
Directed & Written by: Ha Myeong-joong

What's popping:

A heart tugging movie about a mother's love and sacrifice for her children, especially her youngest son. It makes the perfect review today - Mother's Day! :-) I quite enjoyed it even when there are moments that are a little dragged out.

At the beginning of the flick we see a Grandpa (played by the director/screenwriter himself Ha Myeong-joong) breaking into a demolition zone where his childhood home is about to be torn down due to modernisation. He seems a little disoriented...senile, perhaps.

While running through the streets of his old neighbourhood, Grandpa reminisces about his childhood and the times he spent with his beloved Mother. (The flick flips through the chapters in Grandpa’s life as a young boy, a teen and a young man; finally catching up with the present).

He recalls the time Dad passed away and how Mother (Han Hye-sook) worked so hard to raise his elder brother, sister and himself. Being a late child (his siblings are much older than him and his classmates think his Mother is his Grandmother!), the young boy is the apple of his Mother's eye.

Secrets: 'Ma, I like this girl at school....'

The pair has an extremely close bond – they share sleeping quarters (even well into adulthood) and play around like nobody's business. Like that time when the son Choi Ho discovers Mom's attempts to learn English, but still writes the words in Hangeul.

Mom's 'I Love You' is spelled 알라뷰 (Al-la-byu). To which Choi Ho laughs his head off while Mom tries to hide her notebook from him.

Gradually, the flick shifts to the Mother's story. She sees her young son grow up to become a young man. She gets a little jealous when he falls in love for the first time and forgets about her a little. Yet when he gets his heart broken, Mother is there – like a strong pillar – for him.

Companionship: Mother and Choi Ho spend some time together.
She sews while he writes.


But the inevitable happens. Mother's children leave her one by one and she experiences the empty nest syndrome. She doesn't adjust to it well and her children - including her precious Choi Ho - seem to have forgotten all about her. Her letters sent to Choi Ho are returned unopened. Ouch.

Mother gradually wastes away, with heartbreaking consequences.

Thumbs up: Mom's the best

The flick causes us to realise how important it is to stay connected with Mom. Are we that busy in life that we can’t even make a simple phone call back to Mother? In this day and age of supercommunication, that’s just unfathomable…but it still happens.

I hope this Mother’s Day, you’ll take some time out to appreciate Mom because no matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, I’m pretty sure Mommy is always ready with an “알라뷰” :-).

The plot:

A senile old man escapes from the retirement home. He takes a walk down memory lane and relives the moments he had with Mother.

At your service, Ma'am: A young Choi Ho gives Mom a
free massage


A touching and rather pleasant flick which reminds one to appreciate and love that awesome woman in our life.

Happy Mother’s Day, Ma. 알라뷰!!!

To all Mothers reading this (I don’t know if we have readers who are mothers), you R-O-C-K! God bless :-).

Watch it:

Rooster got the DVD for us from Beijing. This time the English subtitles are prefect. 아싸!

Pics credit: HanCinema

Purchase:
Mother (DVD) (Korea Version)
Mother OST

2 Comments:

Twreckx said...

How appropriate, today is Mother's Day in the US

Anonymous said...

i've watched this too. and i cried like crazy.

 

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