Esteemed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda walks a fine line between keen social observation and overt sentimental emotionalism in Cannes competition title Broker.
Winner of the Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters and winner of the Jury Prize five years before that for Like Father Like Son, the writer-director once again displays great empathy for characters who are trying to put their lives in order, examining their predicaments from every possible angle and ultimately guiding them into a position where they can do the right thing.
There is a bit of slackness in the storytelling here, a feeling of indulgence that some modest tightening might have helped, but it’s still a warm, often funny account of people finding their way through a tricky predicament.The opening is a virtually automatic audience grabber that triggers emotional reactions from the outset: Late at night, a baby is dropped off at a big city care facility with an attached note which reads, “I’ll be back for you.” Quite in spite of proper protocol, the two workers on call, Sang-hyun and Dong-soo, decide to take the sprig home with them, which begins a physical and emotional odyssey that spreads across an engaging but leisurely two-plus hours and stirs up equal amounts of amusement and emotion.In short order, however, the mother, So-yung, a sullen and extremely attractive young woman, has a change of heart and returns to collect her baby, only to learn the kid has already been discharged.
The situation quickly escalates, with authorities becoming involved, and the film morphs into an idiosyncratic road movie that finds everyone involved grappling with their own issues of parenthood, responsibilities, wrong roads taken, second thoughts and all manner of
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