Mother (2009) Madeo (original title)

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (story)
Eun-kyo Park (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

She'll stop at nothing.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Girl | Herb | Acupuncture | Tears

Awards:

19 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pil-Kyeong Jang
Jeong-wuk Kim
Seung-hyeon Lee
Bok-dong Mun

Directed by
Joon-ho Bong

Writing credits
Joon-ho Bong		(story)
Eun-kyo Park		(screenplay) &
Joon-ho Bong		(screenplay)

Produced by
Joon H. Choi	....	associate producer
Katharine Kim	....	co-executive producer
Miky Lee	....	executive producer
Yang-kwon Moon	....	co-executive producer
Yang-kwon Moon	....	producer
Tae-joon Park	....	producer
Woo-sik Seo	....	producer

Original Music by
Byung-woo Lee

Cinematography by
Kyung-Pyo Hong

Film Editing by
Sae-kyoung Moon

Production Design by
Seong-hie Ryu

Costume Design by
Se-yeon Choi

Makeup Department
Hyun-kyu Hwang	....	hair stylist
Hyun-kyu Hwang	....	makeup artist
Hee Eun Lee	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Sungho Nam	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hyun-Cheol Park	....	third assistant director

Sound Department
Ye-jin Cho	....	sound designer
Tae-young Choi	....	sound supervisor
Hye Young Kang	....	sound designer
Min Kyu Kim	....	foley mixer
Byung-Ha Lee	....	recording
Chung Gyu Lee	....	foley artist
Jun-o Park	....	sound effects editor
Min Young Park	....	dialogue editor
Yong Ki Park	....	adr mixer
Yong Ki Park	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Kang Chang-bae	....	visual effects artist
Yuseop Ham	....	visual effects
Changbae Kang	....	visual effects
Jihyun Nam	....	head of effects
Jeong Hun Seong	....	digital effects artist
Zeon-Hyoung Yi	....	visual effects supervisor

Other crew
Hyun-tae Bak	....	co-investor
Jésus Castro	....	making-of director
Bi-hyung Cho	....	co-investor
Won-suk Chung	....	co-investor
Hak-beom Kim	....	co-investor
Joori Kim	....	production assistant
Sean Lee	....	investment executive
Yong-Joon Lee	....	co-investor
Younjoo Lee	....	co-investment executive
Ki-moon Nam	....	co-investor
June-tae Park	....	co-investor
Bob Seh	....	co-investor
Kang-young Shin	....	co-investor

Production Companies

• CJ Entertainment (presents)
• Barunson (production)

Distributors

• Benelux Film Distributors (2010) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Benelux Film Distributors (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Bitters End (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• CJ Entertainment (2009) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Diaphana Films (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2009) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• MFA Filmdistribution (2010) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Pictures (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Mongrel Media (2009) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Optimum Releasing (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Home Entertainment (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• CatchPlay (2010) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (all media)
• Magnolia Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Magnolia Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Mediatres Estudio (2010) (Spain) (all media)
• Mongrel Media (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• P.F.A. Films (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Paris Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Paris Filmes (2010) (Brazil) (all media)
• Prisvídeo - Edições Videográficas (2010) (Portugal) (all media)

Special Effects

• AZ Works (visual effects)
• CJ Powercast

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• HFR  dailies
• HFR  digital intermediate
• Live Tone  post-production sound services
• Vantage Film  HAWK anamorphic lenses provided by

Also Known As:

"Madeo" - South Korea (original title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Japan:PG-12 | Hong Kong:III | Argentina:16 | USA:R (certificate #45803) | Singapore:R21 | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | Germany:12 | Brazil:16

Filming Locations:

Busan, South Korea

Company:

CJ Entertainment

Trivia:

Meeting Hye-ja Kim was the chief inspiration for director Joon-ho Bong. He met with her frequently over the development of the script to make sure it suited her skills.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Maltin on Movies: Eat Pray Love (#1.2)" (2010)

A slow burning thriller that rewards the viewer

Yoon Do-Joon has an intellectual disability. His friend is a bit of a trouble maker. His mother is always worried about him and protective to the extreme. A young girl is murdered and the lazy police of this small Korean town blame the obvious and helpless Yoon Do-Joon. The police interrogate him and make him sign a confession but Yoon Do-Joon is not really aware that he is signing his entry to prison. The mother, confident about her son's innocence will investigate the case and will go to any extent to free her son.

After the success of The Host (2006), Joon-ho Bong has crafted an intimate slow burning thriller with suspense elements that is contained in a small town, with small characters, but has a great scope. This movie is more similar to his first two movies, which I highly recommend. Hye-ja Kim is excellent as the mother. Her performance is understated but at the same time intense, cold and at the same time powerful. The cinematography is beautiful. The film moves along and builds slowly, more akin to the tempo of the small town we're visiting for the duration of the film, but the twists, turns, and suspense make it a highly rewarding and satisfying ride.