Five years on from scooping up the Palm d’Or—among countless other awards—for the sublime Shoplifters, acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda brings us yet another moving, humanist drama. Starring Parasite’s Song Kang-ho and K-Pop superstar Lee Ji-eun, aka IU, Broker is in New Zealand cinemas now.
The material this time out is rather dark. Song plays Ha Sang-hyeon, a laundry owner who has a rather problematic side racket with his friend, Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won): they steal the occasional baby left at their local church to sell on the orphan black market.
However, when a young woman, Moon So-young (Lee Ji-eun) comes back after abandoning her child, the three decide to hit the road to find adoptive parents for the mite. But in the meantime, two detectives, played by Lee Joo-young and Jupiter Ascending’s Bae Doona, are closing in.
There’s an obviously bleak take on the table here, but writer and director Kore-eda has never been one to take such a direct route, instead delivering a subtle, closely observed character study that encompasses themes of family, morality, and the terrible choices that life under capitalism can foist upon us. It also smartly stops short of overt sentimentality; although dealing with heavy subject matter—child trafficking!—it’s a grounded, nuanced film that doesn’t allow us to sit in judgement from a comfortable perch on the moral high ground.
Leading man Song Kang-ho became the first Korean actor in history to win Best Actor at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. It was just the latest accolade in a career not short of them, while Lee Ji-eun delivers a stunning performance as the conflicted, combative Moon So-young, and cineastes know that Hirokazu Kore-eda simply does not miss. If you’re a fan of international cinema or simply a connoisseur of smart, challenging drama, Broker is a must-see.
