Whether intended that way or not, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s newest movie Broker, is a spiritual successor to his masterpiece Shoplifters. Here again is a story of a makeshift family that forms around a young child, or in this case infant, that is made up of good well-intentioned people who are yet involved in a criminal enterprise that they justify to themselves by citing the ills of society. And once more it asks its’ audience to contemplate the morality of its’ characters, doing something wrong for the right reasons. There are definite parallels in the plot and characters as well, but it is the structure that is most important. Kore-eda might be accused by some of being a one-trick pony, something he’s shared with the legendary filmmaker he is most often compared to, Yasujirō Ozu. Most of his movies are soulful dramas about families, related or otherwise, and share certain beats and even archetypes. But in his every family portrait he is incredibly nuanced in different ways, and that struck me often watching Broker. It is perhaps the most similar to one of his other movies (in this case Shoplifters), but it is also so very different.
For one thing it’s in Korean -only his second movie made outside of Japan and in another language (his first is the quietly compassionate The Truth from 2019). Made specifically so that he could work with Korea’s favourite actor Song Kang-ho, it’s also a reunion with Bae Doona, star of his underrated Air Doll from 2009. Broker is also technically a road movie that has as much in common with your average fugitive-on-the-run flick as it does any Kore-eda film, only generally more wholesome -involving both a baby and a small child. And there’s something specifically poignant to the main character arc of a young mother unsure what she wants to do with her child.
At first she drops Woo-sung off in the baby box of a church, but leaves a note that she’ll come back. As it happens, one of the employees at that church Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) runs a grift with his partner, Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho), an owner of a laundromat indebted to the mob. The two of them occasionally steal babies from the baby box to illegally sell to couples wishing to adopt, but unwilling or unable to wait through the long adoption process. But So-young (Lee Ji-eun) comes back against all odds, and decides to join the pair in finding good parents for her child. Along the way they pick up a kid stowaway from Dong-soo’s old orphanage, Hae-jin (Im Seung-so), and are covertly tailed by a determined cop Soo-jin (Bae Doona) and her junior partner Detective Lee (Lee Joo-young).
Kore-eda plays very light in this subject matter, which is its’ own kind of shock as technically his protagonists are involved in the business of child trafficking. Yet sympathy is built in, a total absence of abuse, and there’s a lot of humour to this film, plenty of it from Song, an expert in melding slapstick comedy with serious acting. The tone inevitably leans towards wholesomeness even when the more pressing drama and background subplots related to gangsters and a criminal investigation into So-young for the murder of Woo-sung’s father breaks into their tranquility. But unlike in Shoplifters Kore-eda doesn’t seem to resist passing judgement in this case, the films’ heroes are fairly unambiguously virtuous and genuinely concerned about finding good parents for Woo-sung -even if higher offers do motivate them. At the same time the social critique isn’t as immediate as in that film, rather the inadequacies of the adoption system are referenced, and more often brought up is the harm of a child being raised in an environment without love or attention -as is the threat if the rich wife of Woo-sung’s father gets hold of him.
Underlining this is commentary on mothers’ giving up their babies, a subject that Soo-jin in particular is irate about, postulating on how women who don’t want babies should just choose not to have them -there’s subtext around her being unable to bear children herself. The topic of abortion is broached at one point, which by contrast So-young has a very dim opinion of. Here is where Kore-eda does retain some impartiality, presenting both points of view without favouring one, only making clear that the circumstances that result in abandoned children are unfortunate and without easy answers. Child welfare is under constant scrutiny in this film, everyone has an understanding of what’s at stake if Woo-sung isn’t found a good home and family.
Of course what becomes increasingly apparent as the story goes on is how ideal the present family unit is, non-conventional though it may be. They each look after one another and Woo-sung rather tenderly, and all are in need of such support -So-young who is ostracized as a sex worker, Dong-soo who never had a real family growing up, Hae-jin who is looking at a similar future (just past the age kids are typically adopted), and Sang-hyeon who is estranged from his ex-wife and daughter. Song Kang-ho won the Best Actor award at Cannes for this performance, and he certainly delivers well (and is especially solemn in one scene where he meets his daughter), but the real stand-out of the cast has to be Lee Ji-eun who plays with a real quiet passion the confused young woman who cares about nothing more than ensuring her child a safe and loving future. She’s also clever and funny though, an unexpected source of many a good sardonic moment. Gang Dong-won is great too, charming and good-natured and entirely endearing -eventually drawn as a potential love interest for So-young. And Bae Doona gives an understated remarkable performance too, her own tragedy bubbling beneath the surface of her every scene.
It’s a very gentle tone that Kore-eda creates for this movie, even in moments of high drama, that allows it to translate serenely with the audience. His story is crafted in such a way too that the gravity of the central scheme is cushioned, made more digestible -even from the perspective of the police. It’s thus not quite as nuanced as some of his greater works like Shoplifters or Nobody Knows; but where it lacks in that certain complexity and moral ambiguity it makes up for in its’ generous sympathies. I like how each character is defined by a distinct set of values and a personality that is understandable, and I like how they interact off each other. The chemistry between Song, Gang, and Lee Ji-eun is terrific, as is the dynamic between Bae and Lee Joo-young. Again, it all adds up to creating an earnest, perhaps sentimental levity to contradict the objectionable, and make that objectionable idea itself viewed with more complexity. Their enterprise we know to be wrong, but we can feel the rightness in their intents. Kore-eda has built up a pedigree by now and a trustworthy enough voice to get away with that.
More than get away with it in fact. Broker is maybe one of Kore-eda’s more brazen films in terms of its’ messaging -he has cited Ken Loach as a major influence in the past, and at last is starting to emulate Loach’s intense socio-political bent in his work. And in that he seems particularly assured with this film, confident in his choices and in his craft, and proud of his story in a way that you might not expect from such a humble, adorable figure as himself. Broker ends on the touch of a bittersweet note, same as Shoplifters, though not so dour. It’s exactly the feeling you want coming out of a Hirokazu Kore-eda movie, especially one that radiates such charm and cuteness, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Broker releases December 26th.
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