January 5, 2023
FILM: BROKER
DIRECTED BY: HIROKAZU KOREEDA
STARRING: SONG KANG-HO, DONG-WON GANG, BAE DOONA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda has made some beautiful films about people in unfortunate situations. Two of my personal favorites are 2004’s Nobody Knows and 2018’s Shoplifters. Both of these, along with his latest, Broker, handle difficult family subject matter in very delicate and philosophical ways.
Broker concerns the selling of abandoned babies on the black market. A box has been set up for people to drop off their toddlers so they can have a better life than whatever circumstances have caused the abandonment. At the start we see a young woman named So-young (played by Ji-eun Lee) who leaves her baby in the box with a note that says “I’ll be back.” Sang-hyeon (played by Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, who won Best Actor at Cannes for Broker) and Dong-soo (Dong-won Gang) pick up the baby and begin their plans to sell him. Then So-young does in fact return. Her approach with this child goes against what we might predict: she decides to help the guys find an appropriate family. The reason is partially due to the money involved as well as the circumstances surrounding the baby’s birth, which I won’t reveal as it is part of the complex plot that is woven here.
What’s interesting is their rejection of potential parents who say things like, “he was cuter in the photos.” This infuriates So-young and the search for proper caretakers starts again. The film’s focus is to explore the commodification of babies. To some, they become products that must be negotiated for. Meanwhile the baby sits innocently acting mostly like a typical baby: he’s hungry, he gets sick, he sleeps and so on.
Parallel to this are two investigators who are attempting to crack the case that follow the “gang” around so they can catch them in an actual sale. All of the major characters have interesting discussions about the ethics of this situation. Has the baby been stolen? Is it wrong to abandon a child or should aborting it have been an option? Which is the worse sin? Should a parent be given the choice as to where a child might grow up? What if the circumstances suggest a better life elsewhere?
The intricate nature of these questions is visually depicted through several shots featuring the city and its many broken patterns, whether they are disordered architecture, homes, or the crisscrossing of phone wires. Another interesting feature of the mis-en-scene is the frequent use of backlighting throughout the film. This leads to characters being placed in silhouette, or partially in the dark, as if to say what they’re doing may be morally dubious. This includes the investigators who will use whatever means they can to end this type of child trafficking.
Slowly details of So-young’s life are revealed. Clearly she, along with most of the main characters come from their own broken homes. A boy from the orphanage is also brought along on their quest. Dong-soo is revered by him, and other orphaned boys, as a hero having “graduated” from the institution. As such, a family of sorts develops between So-young and her fellow conspirators.
In the end, do these newly formed families and settings provide a better life for unwanted children? Is it better to be abandoned or protected? Koreeda explores all of this with tenderness, reality, and an ample dose of humor.
After recently watching the overlong and bombastic films Avatar: The Way of Water, RRR, and Babylon, it was a welcome pleasure to sit with Broker and really admire the care and attention to detail Koreeda offers to this story.
Broker opens this week in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: BROKER
DIRECTED BY: HIROKAZU KOREEDA
STARRING: SONG KANG-HO, DONG-WON GANG, BAE DOONA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda has made some beautiful films about people in unfortunate situations. Two of my personal favorites are 2004’s Nobody Knows and 2018’s Shoplifters. Both of these, along with his latest, Broker, handle difficult family subject matter in very delicate and philosophical ways.
Broker concerns the selling of abandoned babies on the black market. A box has been set up for people to drop off their toddlers so they can have a better life than whatever circumstances have caused the abandonment. At the start we see a young woman named So-young (played by Ji-eun Lee) who leaves her baby in the box with a note that says “I’ll be back.” Sang-hyeon (played by Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, who won Best Actor at Cannes for Broker) and Dong-soo (Dong-won Gang) pick up the baby and begin their plans to sell him. Then So-young does in fact return. Her approach with this child goes against what we might predict: she decides to help the guys find an appropriate family. The reason is partially due to the money involved as well as the circumstances surrounding the baby’s birth, which I won’t reveal as it is part of the complex plot that is woven here.
What’s interesting is their rejection of potential parents who say things like, “he was cuter in the photos.” This infuriates So-young and the search for proper caretakers starts again. The film’s focus is to explore the commodification of babies. To some, they become products that must be negotiated for. Meanwhile the baby sits innocently acting mostly like a typical baby: he’s hungry, he gets sick, he sleeps and so on.
Parallel to this are two investigators who are attempting to crack the case that follow the “gang” around so they can catch them in an actual sale. All of the major characters have interesting discussions about the ethics of this situation. Has the baby been stolen? Is it wrong to abandon a child or should aborting it have been an option? Which is the worse sin? Should a parent be given the choice as to where a child might grow up? What if the circumstances suggest a better life elsewhere?
The intricate nature of these questions is visually depicted through several shots featuring the city and its many broken patterns, whether they are disordered architecture, homes, or the crisscrossing of phone wires. Another interesting feature of the mis-en-scene is the frequent use of backlighting throughout the film. This leads to characters being placed in silhouette, or partially in the dark, as if to say what they’re doing may be morally dubious. This includes the investigators who will use whatever means they can to end this type of child trafficking.
Slowly details of So-young’s life are revealed. Clearly she, along with most of the main characters come from their own broken homes. A boy from the orphanage is also brought along on their quest. Dong-soo is revered by him, and other orphaned boys, as a hero having “graduated” from the institution. As such, a family of sorts develops between So-young and her fellow conspirators.
In the end, do these newly formed families and settings provide a better life for unwanted children? Is it better to be abandoned or protected? Koreeda explores all of this with tenderness, reality, and an ample dose of humor.
After recently watching the overlong and bombastic films Avatar: The Way of Water, RRR, and Babylon, it was a welcome pleasure to sit with Broker and really admire the care and attention to detail Koreeda offers to this story.
Broker opens this week in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.