Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
South Korea | 2022 | Fiction | 129 min | Korean w/ subtitles
Film Source: Neon
Sponsored by: Lisa Schamberg & Pat Robins
Exception: Festival Passes do not include Opening Night Screening. You may purchase individual tickets for the film, or an individual combo for film + reception.
Acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whom most audiences know from his 2018 Palme d’Or-winning film Shoplifters, understands that circumstances sometimes have more to do with creating family units than biology ever could. In Broker, two would-be human traffickers, who sell abandoned infants to willing parents, hit a snag in their business plan when one baby’s biological mother wants to tag along on their sales route. Throw in a murder case and a couple cops hot on their tail, and all the ingredients are in place for a gritty underworld thriller. But that’s not this film. Kore-eda’s abiding faith in the goodness of humanity is a guiding light through even the most noir-tinged elements of this comedic, heart-warming drama. He is less interested in the gravity of his characters’ trespasses than in the emotional truths of what draws them together and what forces them apart. Kore-eda’s first film set in South Korea features frequent Bong Joon-ho collaborator Song Kang-ho, lead of the Oscar-winning film Parasite, and K-pop star IU, in a breakout role as a young mother faced with an impossible decision. ~TW
The screening will be followed by Opening Night Party at Deep City. Light fare and desserts, cash bar.