Mother (2009)
"Madeo" (original title)

A mother desperately searches for the killer that framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (story), Eun-kyo Park (screenplay),

Stars:

Hye-ja Kim, Bin Won, Ku Jin

19 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hye-ja Kim	...	Mother
Bin Won	...	Yoon Do-joon
Ku Jin	...	Jin-tae (as Goo Jin)
Je-mun Yun	...	Je-moon (as Jae-moon Yoon)
Mi-sun Jun	...	Mi-sun
Sae-Byeok Song	...	Sepaktakraw Detective (as Sae-beauk Song)
Byoung-Soon Kim	...	Group Leader
Woo-hee Chun	...	Mi-na
Gin-goo Kim	...	Ah-jeong's Grandma
Moo-yeong Yeo	...	Lawyer Kong Seok-ho (as Ou-hyung Yum)
Young-Suck Lee	...	Elder at Junk Shop
Hee-ra Mun	...	Moon Ah-jeong (as Hee-ra Moon)
Mi-do Lee	...	Hyung-teo
Young-ki Jung	...	Kkang-ma
Gyu-pil Go	...	Ddung-ddung (as Kyu-phill Ko)

Storyline

A mother lives quietly with her twenty-eight-year-old son, Do-joon, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors. One day, a girl is brutally murdered, and Do-joon is charged with the killing. Now, it's his mother's call whether to prove him innocent or to leave him imprisoned.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | girl | herb | acupuncture | tears | 

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Taglines:

She'll stop at nothing.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexual content, violence and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Mother

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$35,858 (USA) (5 March 2010)

Gross:

$547,292 (USA) (11 June 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Barunson

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joon-ho Bong originally conceived the idea for the film long before he made The Host. He wrote his first synopsis in 2004 which was round about the time he met Hye-ja Kim for the first time.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Eat Pray Love (2010)

User Reviews

Seeking the Truth

In a province in Pusan, South Korea, the slow Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won) is a young man overprotected by his mother (Hye-ja Kim) that works with acupuncture and herbs and does not like his worthless and reckless friend Jin-tae (Goo Jin). When a Mercedes runs over Do-joon, Jin-tae follows the hit-and-run driver with Do-joon and find the car parked in a golf club. Jin-tae breaks the side mirror of the car and Do-joon collects golf balls lost in a lake. When they see the cart with the driver and passengers of the Mercedes, there is a fight and they end in the police station. During the night, Do-joon walks to the bar Manhattan to meet Jin-tae that does not arrive; when Do-joon returns home, he sees the easy Moon Ah-jung (Mun-hee Na) walking alone in an alley and entering in an abandoned house. On the next morning, Ah-jung is found dead on the terrace of the house. The incompetent detectives find a golf ball near her body and they conclude that Do-joon is the killer. Doo- joon is arrested; signs a confession and is charged of murder. However, his mother follows her instincts believing that her son is innocent and the scapegoat of the incompetent police department and seeks the truth disclosing a dreadful reality.

"Madeo" is an original and dramatic South Korean thriller that has an engaging story with a surprising plot point and many twists. The director Joon-ho Bong of "Gwoemul" makes a simple but effective film with a credible story of a single woman that does everything possible and impossible to prove the innocence of her son that is slow probably because he was poisoned when he was five. The performance of Hye-ja Kim deserves a nomination to the Oscar in the role of a dedicated loving mother that pursues the truth about the murder of a teenager student. With the exception of one review of a user that probably has difficulties to read subtitles; the nine wins, six nominations and the favorable reviews of twenty-three IMDb users are practically an unanimous indication that "Madeo" is a great film indeed. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Mother - A Busca Pela Verdade" ("Mother – Seeking the Truth")