Kore-Eda Hirokazu’s Broker, an X-ray of a family from the cradle

Immersion within a dysfunctional family. Dysfunction can be considered as unusual or, ultimately, quite normal, depending on one’s perception. Trenchant yet delicate, Kore-Eda Hirokazu offers a new insight into family and once again demonstrates his interest in the awkwardness of childhood and the solidarity of siblings. Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows) (2004) told the true story of a family of four children abandoned by their mother and Manbiki Kazoku (Shoplifters) portrayed the Shibatas, a group of thieves formed into a family united by the bonds of money. In Broker, the director takes up his favourite theme right from the cradle, exploring the phenomenon of baby boxes, where young infants can be abandoned, which first appeared in Seoul in 2010 on the initiative of a pastor.

To examine this phenomenon that has been growing since the toughening of the Korean law on adoption, which forces single mothers to identify themselves, the director thus set out for South Korea. A second immersive exercise for the Japanese director, who had only once filmed outside his native country, with 2019’s The Truth. Filmed in Korean, Broker stars cult actors Song Kang-ho, star of Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (Palme d’Or, 2019), and Bae Doo-na, who has starred in the films of Park Chan-wook and the Wachowski sisters. Here, tragedy walks hand in hand with grace, as is often the case in the works of the virtuoso of portraying real life on the screen.