Matinee

Series/Themes: Korean Cinema Series

Genre: Drama, International

Accessibility: Subtitles

Film Year: 2022

Locations: South Korea

Film Length: 129 min

Languages: Korean

Subtitles: Yes

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

Featuring: Song Kang-ho, Dong-won Gang, Bae Doona

2022 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Winner, Song Kang-ho

Hirokazu Kore-eda presents a humanistic, humorous, and philosophical masterpiece in his followup to the Academy-Award winning Shoplifters. On a rainy night, an imposing red cross illuminates the Busan Family Church, where a young woman, So-young, arrives to anonymously surrender her newborn to the church. On the receiving end are Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho, Parasite) and Dong-soo, church employees with designs on illegally selling the baby to their network of wealthy, adoptive parents. Their plans are complicated when So-young returns the following day to take her son back and, instead of turning the men in, decides to accompany them on a road trip to interview the baby’s potential parents. Broker delicately balances difficult questions on ethics, the meaning of family, and motherhood.

Introduction by Hyeyon Moon (VAFF)

“This masterful drama has Kore-eda’s almost impossible grace and empathy in every scene” -RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico

 

This film is part of the Korean Cinema Series supported by Korean Cultural Center – Washington, D.C. and UVA Korea Society.