- The film that I liked the most this year is Broker. But I may have a skewed preference since I like all of the films that Hirokazu Kore-Eda makes. The underlying, as well as very present theme for most of his films, is family. There are baby boxes all around South Korea where people can put babies that they don’t want to raise and they will be put up for adoption which is a long waiting list and if they don’t get selected by any family they spent their lives forever in the church daycare. A group of people take such babies from the baby boxes and then sell them to adopting parents who want to cut the queue for adoption. These people are called Brokers and that is what the film is about. Just like his other films, I liked the way he handles the theme of family, how he, again and again, raises the same question “What makes a family?” and answers it differently each time with a different film. This time he also raises the question of the connection between a child and its mother, how fragile and yet strong it can be.
As always, I loved Kang sang-ho’s performance, specifically the way he handles humour in a scene without hogging all the attention from the other actors. Bae Doona also delivers a stunning performance playing a cold detective who keeps doubling on her job each time she feels a sliver of emotion coming up.
Lastly, I would like to point out that Kore-eda is a Japanese director, therefore all his other films have a slower pacing and overall calmer atmosphere while still being exciting and engaging. Since this film is supposed to be a Korean film, which is usually a little fast and tightly structured, he found the right balance between the two which I liked.
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