Brokers

Right now, South Korean cinema is very much alive. If we are not waiting to see what Bong Joon Ho is going to come up with next after the acclaimed “Parasite”, we also have the directors of “Burning” and “Decision to Leave” both creating tense, character-driven crime/dramas and, of course, there’s writer/director Kore-eda Hirokazu behind 2018’s superb “Shoplifters”. His latest is the acclaimed “Broker” which took out the Palme Award for Best Actor Song Kang-ho at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Trying to describe what “Broker” is about tends to suck much of the joy out of the experience (I only knew very little going in). The partial synopsis concerns Ha Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and his younger friend Dang-soo (Gang Dong-wan) who illegally sell unwanted babies to couples who cannot have children. One day a young woman, Moon So-young (Ji-eun Lee) anonymously drops off her recent newborn at a ‘baby-box” at a church for unwanted babies - the two men pick it up before officials can claim the child. A chain of events leads them back to the mother who wishes to join them on a road trip to find a suitable couple to become the child’s parents, but like life things hardly ever go to plan. What transpires is filled with twists and turns, comedy and intrigue. Your patience will be duly rewarded.

“Shopkeepers” (from memory) was quite a gritty film in many respects, “Broker” on the other hand, still has much of that gritty style, yet is also buoyed by whimsical comedy and heartfelt storytelling. While “Shopkeepers” also had a brilliant final twist; it’s pacing was very deliberate. “Broker” though stacks on the complications shortly before the halfway mark making for a more energising and (probably for some viewers) more accessible film.

There is one part to the storyline involving a police official that seems somewhat hard to believe at times, yet the overall tone isn’t meant to be like “Shopkeepers” even though there are similarities. There are some digressions in tone here that are meant to be comedic and hopeful, so I suspended my disbelief. There are also a number of quirky supporting characters such as Su-jin (Bae Donna) and Lee (Lee Joo-young) as the two detectives. The colourful cast might just have you falling in love with each of them - that you may just want to stay in their company in the darkened cinema just a little while longer. The performances are all that good.

I noticed that the director may have been inspired by a French film - “The Fugitives” (1986) as a few scenes echoed this for me, especially given his recent foray into French cinema with “The Truth” in 2019 - it’s quite possible due to their thematic crime elements and its main characters also on the run with a child, paired with a warm and sentimental score.

There’s also a curious scene in “Broker” where a character calls a family member in the car whilst visibly upset. We hear the radio playing Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up” almost in its entirety while we hear the one-sided phone conversation. It’s a brilliant scene that has much thematic weight (as small as it is) yet also the director seems to be inspired by the iconic scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” where the characters (some in cars) all breakout into song (in a montage) to the aforementioned track. While there is no singing in the car in “Broker” it does appear to be a tribute to that film.

Kore-eda Hirokazu is fast becoming one of my top directors and certainly one on the world stage to look out for. His recent French film “The Truth” starring Binoche and Deneuve (and even Ethan Hawke) was a slight little soufflé, but “Shopkeepers” and “Broker” are both rich character-driven films, with terrific performances, atmosphere ‘to boot’ (the ‘eating’ scenes are alway memorable) and dynamic, wry and moving storytelling. If you are tiring of cinema’s more commercial output, then do yourself a favour and a check out this film.

I’m giving “Broker” 4.5 stars out of five

Please note: Apparently the idea of these “baby boxes” is not completely fictional according to Wikipedia. In my ignorance, I assumed it was. Allegedly, similar ‘systems’ can be found all around the world including South Korea where the film was made. Japan also has a system where one can specifically deposit an unwanted baby into a baby box.

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You can also check out the trailer for “Broker” below to gain a taste of the film, as well as a link to my recent film review of Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” which I also rate high