After her loving, simple-minded son Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won) is charged with murdering a young high school girl, Mother (Hye-ja Kim) does everything she can to prove her only child is innocent of the crime.

CRITIQUE

Joon-ho Bong’s Mother, his follow-up to his international hit The Host, is an extremely strong dramatic mystery about how far love can push a single parent to do just about anything for their child. Well plotted, beautifully shot by Kyung-Pyo Hong (Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War) and masterfully acted by Kim, the movie has a great deal of strengths, the final product very easy to watch and enjoy pretty much from beginning to end.

Not that I am as thoroughly in love with it as so many other critics have been this year. Bong’s pacing is at times agonizingly methodical, and at just over two hours the film is easily a good 15 to 20 minutes too long. I also didn’t think the ultimate outcome was all that surprising or shocking, the solution to the central mystery is more or less a forgone conclusion.

Still, I was never bored watching Mother. Kim owns this picture, easily delivering one of the best performances of 2010. She shows so much depth, so much nuance to Mother that even though I was pretty confident I knew what was going to happen thanks to her I still was extremely eager to get there. This is a multifaceted and complicated piece of work by the actress, Kim holding me in the palm of her hand right from the start.

There’s not really much more to say. Mystery fans will certainly get a kick out of this film, while those seeking adult entertainment that treats viewers with respect and intelligence will certainly get there fill of just that here. I just don’t think the final product is as monumental or as profound (or even as emotionally devastating) as many others out there have exclaimed. This is a good movie, yes, but nothing more (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

THE VIDEO

Mother is presented in 2.35:1/1080p widescreen. A stunning transfer, this might be one of the best I’ve ever seen from Magnolia. There is notable depth to many scenes and detail as crisp and as clean as any Blu-ray (including recent Criterion releases) I’ve seen this year. A real homerun.

THE AUDIO

Available audio includes Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with optional English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Extras here include:

• Making of “Mother” – A 90-minute behind-the-scenes documentary that’s about as comprehensive as these sorts of things can get. Very strong and worthy of more than a single look.
• Music Score Featurette – Barely 15-minute featurette covering composer Byeong-woo Lee’s stirring score. Nothing special, but any chance to listen to this music a bit more is one that shouldn’t be missed.
• A Look at Actress Kim Hye-ja – Fairly standard interview featurette but definitely still worth a look.
• Supporting Actors Featurette – Another short featurette filled with interviews with Bong and many of his supporting players including Bin Won.
• Production Design Featurette – Interview piece with production designer Seong-hie Ryu.
• Behind-the-Scenes Featurette – Standard fluff piece that isn’t really worth looking at thanks to the far more impressive making-of documentary also included on the disc.
• International Trailers
• BDLive Enabled 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Mother is a strong, Hitchcockian mystery/thriller fans of the genre will certainly enjoy. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it solid entertainment worthy of rental? Definitely. Better, for those who are in love with director Joon-ho Bong’s latest this Magnolia Blu-ray is easily one of the best the studio has ever released making picking it up for purchase as simple a decision as any they are likely ever to have.