Broker (브로커)

Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest Palme d'Or-nominated and Best Actor-winning Korean film was a simple, beautiful and tender film that explored big and difficult ideas. Similar to his Palme d'Or winning film, Shoplifters, this film was about family, the real biological ones, the chosen ones, the make-believe and the forgotten, and the complicated relationships that bind them together or drive them apart. However, on top of this, writer/director Kore-eda also used this film to explore other thorny and sensitive issues such as human trafficking, child abandonment, adoption vs abortion and parental responsibility. 

Thankfully, Kore-eda handled it all with the humanistic grace and gentleness that highlighted his films and it all never came off as overly preachy or conservative. The characters deftly discussed the complex morality and ethics behind these hot-button topics without forsaking plot and pace. It all flowed naturally and with a sincerity that never felt like an exposition dump leadening the film. 

Further, Kore-eda never forgot the humour. The film was peppered with humour but most of it arose from the naturalistic - and familial-like - chemistry between the cast. It was the friendly jibes between brothers, siblings, father and son, husband and wife, that brought on the levity and smiles. 

However, that was not to say that there was no drama. This was a Kore-eda film after all and there were moments of pain and heartfelt tenderness, but they never rallied into melodrama. Kore-eda, ever the empath, presented such moments naturally and with a sensitivity that felt honest and sincere. 

With all said and done, this film would not be as successful if not for the cast that Kore-eda had assembled. Like the makeshift family they represent, their chemistry evolved over the course of the film till the end where their familial bond seemed seamless.

Leading man, Song Kang-ho easily anchored the film with his everyman charms, but beneath that was a complex character that Song (and Kore-eda) slowly presented to the audience. Unlike a lot of Hollywood films, we are never spoon fed here, but the layers are there and we are trusted to be able to peel and reveal them ourselves.

Gang Dong-won and Lee Ji-eun completed the adults of the family unit and again, these two were complex characters, the latter more so. In particular, Lee, at the end, showed a range and depth that could not have been guessed from the beginning.

Donna Bae led the subplot which in the beginning felt superfluous and tiresome, but - trust Kore-eda - dovetailed beautifully into the main story and film's themes. Bae was as effortlessly engaging as always, and the film's standout moment - an homage to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia - belonged to her. 

Broker was a beautiful film to watch. It may not be as powerful as Shoplifters but it still offered a tender and gentle, yet emotional, ride that promised hope and faith in humanity.