One Tough Mother

In its opening scene, Bong Joon-ho's "Mother" shows a weathered woman of about 50 gracefully swaying and dancing in a field that made me immediately think of Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World". Just like the real Christina, who was paralyzed from the waist down, the oddly appealing scene in "Mother" masks a below-the-surface tragedy.

The mother in "Mother" is played by Kim Hye-Ja, the Streep of South Korean cinema. Her son, Do-joon (Won Bin) is a childlike, mentally handicapped man in his early twenties. Because of his condition, he remains under the constant, watchful eye of his mother. When Do-joon is very slightly injured by a hit-and-run car, his buddy, Jin-tae (Jin Ku), takes off after the driver, with Do-joon in tow. Mother chases by foot until she realizes her effort is fruitless. When the two young men find the culprits, they beat them up on a golf course (not very badly) and get them arrested. But this is only a preview of the real police problems that Do-joon and Mother will face later on, when he is accused of murdering a young girl.

The police, convinced they have an open-and-shut case, arrest and convict Do-joon. Now they've really made Mother mad and she is ultra-determined to prove her son's innocence by acting as a one-woman detective agency and police force. It's the classic, they've got the wrong guy story but with twists and turns that make you question your beliefs about who did what, in reality.

Bong has done an outstanding job as director and co-author of the screenplay, and his cast holds up their end of the bargain, as well. When "Mother" finally reveals its hand, more than likely you will be caught by surprise, and that's all you can ask from a mystery/thriller. This Mother rocks.