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Mother

Original title: Madeo
  • 2009
  • K-16
  • 2h 9m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
68K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,743
2
Mother (2009)
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for their horrific murder.
Play trailer2:11
1 Video
99+ Photos
CrimeDramaMystery

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

  • Director
    • Bong Joon Ho
  • Writers
    • Bong Joon Ho
    • Eun-kyo Park
  • Stars
    • Hye-ja Kim
    • Won Bin
    • Jin Goo
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    68K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,743
    2
    • Director
      • Bong Joon Ho
    • Writers
      • Bong Joon Ho
      • Eun-kyo Park
    • Stars
      • Hye-ja Kim
      • Won Bin
      • Jin Goo
    • 181User reviews
    • 222Critic reviews
    • 79Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 44 wins & 47 nominations

    Videos1

    Mother: Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:11
    Watch Mother: Trailer #1

    Photos174

    Won Bin in Mother (2009)
    Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Won Bin in Mother (2009)
    Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Won Bin and Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Bong Joon Ho in Mother (2009)
    Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Won Bin and Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Won Bin and Hye-ja Kim in Mother (2009)
    Bong Joon Ho in Barking dogs never bite (2000)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hye-ja Kim
    Hye-ja Kim
    • Mother
    Won Bin
    Won Bin
    • Yoon Do-joon
    Jin Goo
    Jin Goo
    • Jin-tae
    Je-mun Yun
    Je-mun Yun
    • Je-moon
    • (as Jae-moon Yoon)
    Mi-seon Jeon
    Mi-seon Jeon
    • Mi-sun
    Sae-byeok Song
    Sae-byeok Song
    • Sepaktakraw Detective
    • (as Sae-beauk Song)
    Yeong-seok Lee
    • Junk Shop Elder
    Hee-ra Mun
    • Moon Ah-jeong
    • (as Hee-ra Moon)
    Woo-hee Chun
    Woo-hee Chun
    • Mi-na
    Byoung-Soon Kim
    • Group Leader
    Moo-yeong Yeo
    • Lawyer Kong Seok-ho
    • (as Ou-hyung Yum)
    Jeong Yeong-gi
    • Kkang-ma
    • (as Young-ki Jung)
    Go Gyu-pil
    Go Gyu-pil
    • Ddung-ddung
    • (as Kyu-phill Ko)
    Mi-do Lee
    • Hyung-teo
    Jin-gu Kim
    • Ah-jeong's Grandma
    Hong-jib Kim
    • Jong-pal
    Min Kyung-jin
    Min Kyung-jin
    • Secretary
    Kyeong-sook Jo
    • Mi-na's Mother
    • (as Kyung-Sook Cho)
    • Director
      • Bong Joon Ho
    • Writers
      • Bong Joon Ho
      • Eun-kyo Park
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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".
    • Alternate versions
      A black and white version (overseen by Joon-ho Bong) premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2015. The cut (and duration) remain that same, with colour altered.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Hot Tub Time Machine/City Island/Chloe/How to Train Your Dragon/The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Mother/The Eclipse (2010)
    • Soundtracks
      Song of Joy
      Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

      Heard on the lawyer's phone

    User reviews181

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A good start, boring middle, great end...
    This is a decent film with a good plot line. However the delivery is slow and could be better. The lead character who plays the Mother, typifies a classic maternal figure. She dotes on her son and is constantly worrying for, and nagging her son. He sleeps next to her every-night and the son is the Mother's world.

    When her son (the brilliant Bin Won) is accused of murder, the Mother fights for his justice and attempts to seek out the truth. At this point the story goes through a slow pace and a series of clues and knowledge is gathered, but the viewer is left wondering where this is leading and how this is going to progress.

    Suddenly, the last half an hour of the film, the plot begins to get interesting again and we see the true characteristics of the Mother which is superbly portrayed. The conclusion of the film is somewhat shocking, but, on reflection of the entire film, is not surprising.

    Overall, this has a good plot and is definitely one to watch, albeit slow moving at times.
    helpful•29
    4
    • parasrajpatel
    • Aug 25, 2012

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    FAQ14

    • What was the significance of Mother cutting herself with the herb cutter in the very beginning?
    • What is "Mother" about?
    • Is "Mother" based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 28, 2021 (Finland)
    • Country of origin
      • South Korea
    • Official sites
      • Official site
      • Official site (France)
    • Language
      • Korean
    • Also known as
      • Người Mẹ
    • Filming locations
      • Busan, South Korea
    • Production companies
      • CJ Entertainment
      • Barunson E&A
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $5,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $551,509
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $35,858
      • Mar 14, 2010
    • Gross worldwide
      • $17,267,324
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 9 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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