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Madeo
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Mother (2009) More at IMDbPro »Madeo (original title)

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Mother -- A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for their horrific murder.

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   14,841 votes »
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Up 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Joon-ho Bong (story)
Eun-kyo Park (screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Mother on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
28 May 2009 (South Korea) See more »
Genre:
Tagline:
She'll stop at nothing.
Plot:
A mother desperately searches for the killer that framed her son for a girl's horrific murder. Full summary » | Add synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
19 wins & 21 nominations See more »
User Reviews:
No idea this film would end up the way it did (and I'm not telling) See more (71 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order)

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
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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 CompaniesDistributorsSpecial EffectsOther Companies
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
"Madeo" - South Korea (original title)
See more »
MPAA:
Rated R for language, some sexual content, violence and drug use
Runtime:
128 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
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:

Did You Know?

Trivia:
Because of phonetic differences between English and Korean, both "Mother" and "Murder" are spelled the same when translated to Korean characters. The movie title, "Madeo", is a play on this similarity, suggesting both "Mother" and "Murder".See more »
Movie Connections:

FAQ

How does the movie end?
Who really killed Moon Ah-jung?
Why was Mother's employer angry with her at the start of the movie?
See more »
61 out of 68 people found the following review useful.
No idea this film would end up the way it did (and I'm not telling), 30 September 2009
Author: sitenoise from http://sitenoise-atthemovies.blogspot.com/

It's too bad that because this film is ostensibly about an old lady it must be considered a "smaller" film in Bong's oeuvre. It's not. It is every bit as brilliant, and as large, as Memories of Murder, in my opinion.

In many ways this is the natural, and equal, follow-up to Memories of Murder. It's every bit the caper film that one was, and, although slightly more somber in tone, the film keeps unraveling in directions you don't expect making it much more a plot driven movie than a character study. Kim Hye-ja is, however, magnificent as the titular (gawd I hate that word but I'm using it anyway) mother. There is a scene in this film where she tells the family of the victim her son didn't do it and her eyes are so electrically charged it made me jump back from the screen. Mother fires on all cylinders. The direction, cinematography, script, and acting are all grade A. It's one of those films where each of the secondary characters steals the show for a brief period. (How 'bout that cop who kicks the apple from Won Bin's mouth?) Bong does a remarkable job of populating the world of this film with real people and manages to give them depth and development in a very short period of time. I confess to having a little trouble tracking the other female characters in the film, but no matter. There is a scene (without spoiling anything here) where Kim Hye-ja asks the other 'retarded' kid if he has a mother and it's one of the most complex and heart-rending scenes in cinematic history. Hyperbole notwithstanding, just freakin' WOW! on that one when you ponder just why she is crying.

I wasn't sure where Bong was going to end up going as a film maker. Barking Dogs Never Bite was a reasonable debut. Memories of Murder, a masterpiece. But was it a lucky shot? I'm glad I don't have to consider the dismal Antarctic Journal a Bong film if I don't want to. The Host was lots-o-fun, but that's the one that worried me. Maybe he was going to start making blockbuster type films. But now, after recently seeing his contribution to Tokyo!, and now Mother, I have every reason to believe he is going to kick my butt with interesting film for a long time.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Mother (2009)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Plot hole czenczenczen
half the people on this board who saw this movie.. Zaphod88
Anyone else disappointed? (Spoilers) vasanth6009619
*SPOILER* PLOT DEVICE - JP convicted without proper evidence? jasmeets
10/10..the best movie in years!! Why is this not in IMDB top 250 list?? praveenksingh
The cry in front of the new suspect in the jail. What does it mean? kimkegaard
See more »

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