“Broker” is a movie that director Hirokazu Kore-eda created based on family material.
“Broker” (directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda), which was released on June 8th, has attracted more than 1 million box-office audiences in Korea as of today (June 18th). The movie depicts the unexpected and special journey of people who got involved in a baby box. Since it is a new work by Hirokazu Kore-eda, the Japanese master director who has won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, its high popularity has been guaranteed ever since the filming stage.
Among movie directors, Hirokazu Kore-eda has a considerable amount of fans in Korea. Creating many amazing works, such as “Nobody Knows”, “Still Walking”, “Air Doll”, “Like Father, Like Son”, “Our Little Sister”, “After the Storm”, “Shoplifters”, etc. on a yearly basis, he is called a diligently productive director. In Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Takeshi Kitano, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa are considered masters.
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda focuses on capturing the close-up images of family faces, habits, relationships, habits, and emotions. Supposing the filmography of him as “a solo exhibition of Hirokazu Kore-eda with family materials”, at this point, another title for “Broker” would be “Family – Chapter 7”. To a director who mostly talks about children, fathers, mothers, and their relationships, this movie is not an outstanding work but a part of the whole series.
Abandoned blind spot, wandering people
The collaboration between amazing top star IU and Hirokazu Kore-eda was indeed a win-win relationship itself. Lee Ji-eun must have that “this is something I can do the best” when accepting the scenario of this movie. Earlier, she performed enthusiastically as a so-called “street girl”, who has no place to go, in the drama “My Mister”. Therefore, she would have willingly shown sympathy to “Broker”, which has a similar humanistic plot.
Lee Ji-eun’s confidence was right. Her perfect acting of lonely eyes and facial expressions were emotionally portrayed on the screen. In the film, Lee Ji-eun’s character So-young had a child of a middle-aged man who committed sex trafficking and she also committed a crime in a fit of anger. There is no future for a young woman who is on a red line. This young woman, who only sees a dark tunnel, cannot become an adult to guide and support the little life.
At the beginning of the movie, brokers Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo are portrayed as hyenas who sell babies. However, in the middle and latter half of the story, it turns out that the two have also survived in an unfortunate environment. It does not mean they committed a crime. It’s an environment in which they could not survive without breaking the law and their wrong choice in a moment caused their poor condition at present. Also, the lifestyle and trauma of brokers Sang-hyun and Dong-soo are consistent with So-young’s current status.
If we divide the characters into age groups, Sanghyun represents the older generation and the ruined political chaos. Dong-soo, who is in his 30s, is in danger of following the footstep of Sang-hyun and So-young is the youngest among them. In the case of So-young, there is a possibility that she may put an end to Sang-hyun’s ruined life and seek a new start.
So the ending of “Broker” was completed with a predictable and lucid humanism. Sang-hyeon does “something” to save So-young and Sang-hyeon for future generations. His abandoned life is already irreversible. However, it is only after meeting So-young, who resembles himself, that he must break the chain of evil deeds. Sang-hyeon’s last momentous determination covers the film’s climax, and So-young is like a blue bird flying out of the cage door that Sang-hyeon opened.
It’s okay if we’re not related by blood… The dissolution of patriarchal society
Let’s take a look at a certain plot that reveals the essence of the film. Sang-hyeon, Dong-soo, So-young, Hae-jin (Im Seung-soo), a child who always tags along with Sang-hyeon because he was not adopted at the orphanage, and So-young’s baby enjoy a midsummer outing at the amusement park. Dreamlike and ephemeral.
The director sketched the process of characters in blind spots living without hope being saved by others’ good will in a cozy and fancy way. The video is ivory-colored throughout, and the serious expressions of Dong-soo and So-young, who discuss the invisible future in the ferris wheel, approach as an homage of hope that seems to remain a single ray. A salvation fantasy where people idly lean on people and incapable humans miraculously save each other. Director Hirokazu Kore-eda unfolded a piece of happy fantasy for the newly united family, rather than choosing the hyperrealism of harsh reality.
What is the true definition of family? Is it okay to settle a meal with strangers in one place? The common concept of family in Korean society is blood-related relations. However, as the number of single-person households is increasing rapidly around the world, marriage, childbirth and childcare systems are constantly being revised and changed. At this point, “Broker” provides a considerable catharsis to female audiences in their 20s and 30s in Korea. A new social proposition that a new type of family is possible by breaking away from blood ties. In other words, it is the dismantling of existing customs.
It is impossible to estimate the personal worldview of Hirokazu Kore-eda, a middle-aged man who has lived as an artist all his life. However, the recent changes in family culture and institutionalism around the world are an irresistible global trend. Now that the tendency has seductively reached “Broker” through the touch of a Japanese master, what kind of life map will the audience draw?
Source: daum
