Thank you for being born

It's barely impossible not to raptured by Kore-eda latest feature. His willingness to delightfully fuse such a bleak theme, not to carry it to at mediocre sappy drama and giving us an immaculate storytelling instead were such endearing detour in korean-spoken film for a long time.

Broker is a gentle plot-driven road movie with lighter tone than Kore-eda's perusal, more grounded to reality which feels true and false but yet constantly sensitive in making us question what right is. His agenda might blurring every decision the characters has to get by even for any of us who trying to cope their complicated reasons. I'm truly amazed how he treats his character motions by not blatantly told right away, he choose to allow them to expose their familiar territory gradually till we see them as entirety. There will gonna be social dilemma as we linger throughout the journey, Kore-eda is not a typical director who pointing with one finger without using other one just to broad the audience a wider perspective. A bare minimum question like, Why have a child if you can’t raise him? Sounds rhetorical when we were asked without a context, yet here Broker took you deeply behind that particular question, not in any sort of judgmental way but again as good prejudice.

Enhanced by the strong script and extended theme to share which resembles the basic fundamentals aspect of our life, the ultimate gray-ish area, are the big thread that connecting those people to us. From the art of needing and belonging, to the part whose we proudly call home, well enacted as enough as glimpse of joy along the way not only for that baby Woo-Soung but also everyone who desired to help and happened to find each others.

Broker will not be the same as it is now without its impecable performance by those cast, Song Kang-ho with his perpetual dillema, has given out his best perfomance since Parasite and deservedly earns best Actor at Cannes. IU whom i give no expetation at all but be slaying every single scene she was in, her performance might not be a powerhouse one but her subtle eyes and emotions always implies that she's a fully vulnerable mother. Everyone has their part to shine, no characters left alone and truly partake to build the chemistry, everytime everywhere even it was only in their old trashy van.

There was one scene where So-Young practically said, Thank you for being born to everyone. that small gesture has embodied the whole direction what the story tent to, marking on the last time they spoke and expressed their gratitude before it grows. I'm shivering bit goosebumps just to remember how simply powerful that scene was. His sense to call out that always shown as his typical signature, led by rarely good happy ending but still left amount charms to dismiss our disbelief.

That is the sentimentality Kore-eda has all about, the way he brings a minimal yet thoughtful situations into such reflecting odyssey might oftentimes exploit all matters, lose at some phases or getting big entanglement there. But his deftness always bring us back to the right path as coherent whole then making us fall in just silent reveries thereafter. I love his imagery towards chosen family, and i just realizes they are all not created by destiny, they are created by their partiality.