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Photo courtesy of NEON.
It all starts with a baby box, a pregnant whore, two men selling babies on the black market, and two detectives trying to make an arrest.
Baby boxes depicted in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker are not an uncommon phenomenon. Many hospitals and churches have long provided a place to ensure that unwanted babies can be cared for. This is also known as a baby bin or baby hutch. The idea is spreading around the world like wildfire.
In South Korea alone, Baby Box receives hundreds of drop-offs per year. For Kore-eda, the extent to which his mother used a baby box in South Korea was enough to make a film in a language he didn’t speak (French film The Truth).
The plot sounds like a thriller. Seo-yeon (Lee Ji-eun) drops the baby off in her baby box with a note that she is coming to pick her up, and Detectives Lee (Lee Joo-young) and Soo-jin (Peduna) stake out the new baby. , unconscious bait nearby. Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Kang Dong-won), who work at a church with a baby box, decide to collect and sell newborn babies. Instead of waiting for it in an overcrowded orphanage.
Dong-soo, who grew up in such an orphanage waiting for his mother to return, shows no sympathy for Seo-yeon. But the next day, So-yeon comes back. She wants to split the profits from the sale of her own baby 50/50 with her, and the man admits that having her mother there makes her sale easier . And so they begin their journey, trying to find a buyer for Seo-yeon’s baby, with a detective heating up their trail.
It all sounds a little heartless. But as you watch events unfold and get to know the characters, you’ll find that the exact opposite is true. It’s not about raising, it’s about giving your child a better life. Individual characters have opinions that are ready to attack Soyeon’s choices, but the nature of the story is very sympathetic, and Broker slowly transforms into a strange little family of misfits. Kore-eda is no stranger to this sort of story. Some of his previous features (“Shoplifters”, “Like Father, Like Son”) are all about misfits and the importance of family.
US audiences may view the film a bit angled, as the dialogue here focuses on recent abortions rather than baby abandonment. But the film still has a universal purpose. It aims to combat societal prejudices against mothers. This isn’t a conversation about what mothers do, but about why and why mothers aren’t the only factors that contribute to a baby’s well-being. Choice is renunciation. If the village takes a long time to raise a child, but the village isn’t stepping up, what should we do?
If there’s one thing Kore-eda’s achievements cannot be forgotten, it’s that he makes the audience think. While the film treads the line of fairytale endings, seeking to give its characters a hopeful future rather than a more probable, gritty outlook, the journey is purposeful in this situation. It makes up for it. The film is beautiful, with a strong cast and strong storytelling.
Don’t miss your chance to catch “Broker” at Midtown Cinemas in January.
Midtown Cinema is located at 250 Riley Street in Harrisburg. For more information, see: www.midtowncinema.com.
January event at midtown cinema
First Run movie opening
“corsage”
Friday 6th January
FraserFest Presents
“George of the Jungle” (1997)
Friday, January 6, 9:30 p.m.
“Encino Man” (1992)
Sunday, January 8, 7:30 p.m.
National Theater Live Presents
“Jack Absolute Fly Again”
Sunday, January 8, 5:00 p.m.
First Run movie opening
“Broker” (Korea)
Friday, January 13th
Down in front!riffon
“Friday the 13th: A New Beginning” (1985)
Friday, January 13, 9:30 p.m.
Burg Movie Night 3rd place
“The Mummy” (1999)
Friday, January 20, 9:30 p.m.
National Theater Live Presents
“Book of Dust”
Sunday, January 22/23, 5pm
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