Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of Japan’s greatest living filmmakers. You could mount a case he’s the greatest living Japanese filmmaker if you exclude animation (and thus, Hayao Miyazaki). In 2013, he took home the Special Jury Prize from the same event for Like Father, Like Son. In 2018, he won the Palme d’Or at Cannes for the terrific Shoplifters. And last year he won a second Special Jury Prize for Broker. Now that film has finally found its way Down Under.
Broker naturally shares some similarities with other Kore-eda’s films. For a start, it revolves around an unconventional family. It also involves crime – a frequent Kore-eda device – though in this case, rather more serious than shoplifting. And it features the director’s signature unhurried style, and this time he uses a road-trip to give it structure. So if you saw Drive My Car, and can imagine that film as one inhabited by small-time grifters rather than theatre directors, you’ve probably a pretty good idea where this might be going.
As with his previous film, The Truth (2019), Kore-eda is working outside Japan here, specifically in South Korea. The setting allows him to use Korea’s byzantine adoption system to power the story (Kore-eda also wrote the screenplay). The result is a profoundly humanist story that explores several issues in a considered, yet satisfying, way.
The film opens at a church in the city of Busan. One of the services the church offers is a “baby box”, allowing infants to be placed in its care anonymously. Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) volunteers at the church, along with his friend Ha Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho). During the week, Sang-hyeon runs a struggling laundry. But he and Dong-soo have hit on a lucrative sideline as black-market baby brokers. They deliver unwanted infants to couples who can’t otherwise have children, but who can’t adopt. They take a baby from the church’s baby box, delete surveillance footage, and care for the child until an adoption can be arranged.
One night, Moon So-young (Ji-eun Lee) abandons her baby boy Woo-sung in the baby box. She leaves a note saying she’ll return for him, but doesn’t include any contact details. Sang-hyeon and Dong-soo decide to take Woo-sung for adoption. But then So-young returns; and she quickly works out what they’re up to. But when the pair offer to cut her in on the 10 million won (about $A11,500) fee, she joins them on the journey to meet the prospective adopters. However, little do they know that two detectives, Su-jin (Bae Doona) and Lee (Lee Joo-young), are already on their tail.
Broker shares some themes and some plot points with Shoplifters, but doesn’t feel like a re-hash of that film. Kore-eda keeps things fluid. Alliances shift, lies are told and truths exposed. Characters try to understand one another with varying degrees of success. The film drifts from serious, to comic, to insightful with an easy grace. It runs for a tick over two hours, but I barely noticed it despite (or perhaps thanks to) Kore-eda’s characteristically languid and lyrical style.
Song Kang-ho (Parasite) leads the cast with another powerhouse performance as Sang-hyeon. He’s just about matched though by the astonishing turn from pop-star turned actor Ji-eun Lee (who sings under the name IU). Her take on the less-than-ideal young mother is a revelation. Gang Dong-won is also excellent in a smaller role as Dong-soo; and the same can be said for Bae Doona and Lee Joo-young as the cops.
Broker is yet another triumph for Kore-eda and a worthy addition to his canon. This is profound – but profoundly enjoyable – cinema.
David Edwards
Other reviews you might enjoy:
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
