Bong Joon-Ho returns to Certain Regard with “Mother”

In 2008, Bong Joon-Ho was a member of the trio directing Tokyo! which screened in Certain Regard, his co-filmmakers being Leos Carax and Michel Gondry. This year, Certain Regard has selected the Korean director’s latest film, the suspenseful Mother. A widow, determined to prove that her son is innocent of the murder accusation leveled against him, single-mindedly pursues the real killer herself. Bong, whose monster movie The Host, which screened at Directors Fortnight in 2006, won him international renown, focuses here on portraying the inner strength of a mother in search of truth, and her emotional fluctuations and doubts. The other aspects of the crime are of secondary interest to him. As he himself explains, "the film is like a magnifying glass that focuses warm sunlight to a burning point. It is a drama that unfolds with great intensity, a story rooted in the fundamental nature of motherhood." To enhance the naturalism of the film, Mother was shot on location in South Korea, as much as possible.