Broker | Hirokazu Kore-eda

[Cremildo]

Song Kang-ho, star of Oscar-winner “Parasite,” will head the cast of “Baby, Box, Broker,” the Korean-language debut of “Shoplifters” director Hirokazu Kore-eda. Rounding out a stellar acting lineup are Bae Doona (“Cloud Atlas,” “The Host”) and Gang Dong-won (“Peninsula,” “The Priests”).

The film takes as its starting point boxes that are left out for people to anonymously drop off their unwanted babies. That makes “Broker” thematically linked to Kore-eda’s previous films, including Cannes competition title “Nobody Knows” and Cannes jury prize-winner “Like Father, Like Son.”

Production is through Zip Cinema, with CJ Entertainment investing, handling local distribution and international sales. Kore-eda is currently completing the screenplay and is heading for a 2021 production start. [+]

[Ben_C]

Kore-eda and Song Kang-ho should be a match made in cinematic heaven.

[Cremildo]

Official title and synopsis:

The story of Broker will center on baby boxes, in which parents who aren’t able to provide for their babies anonymously give them up. Check out Hirokazu Kore-eda’s statement on the project below, along with the cinematographer’s Instagram post announcing his involvement.

"Plans for Broker began about five years ago.

As always, it all began with the actors. I first met Song Kang Ho at the Busan International Film Festival and Kang Dong Won when he was in Tokyo for work. I have continued to stay in contact with the two actors in Tokyo, Seoul, Busan, and Cannes. At first, we simply exchanged greetings but as we continued to share conversations, it naturally led to us talking about working on a film together.

I worked with Bae Doona in 2009, and I thought to myself, ‘I hope we work together again, next time as a human character,’ and that dream has finally come true over 10 years later. And now I will be working on a film with crew members and Korean actors I greatly respect.

Broker is a story about baby boxes. Right now, working on the script that will move these three great actors, I am so excited. In order to share this excitement with you all, I hope to create a thrilling, heartwarming, and emotional film.

This film, like my latest film, will be one where I am apart from my home country and native language. What will I be able to express and share as we overcome barriers of language and culture? What does it mean to be a director? I hope to explore those questions through this project."

[principehomura]

Hype!

[Tuc0]

Well this is great!

[Cremildo]

[Cremildo]

BROKER Official Int'l Teaser Trailer - YouTube

[thenexus6]

Can't wait!

[Cremildo]

Acquired by NEON.

[Cremildo]

[Mothravka]

Mostly an okay film that just feels too pedagogic. Hardly a step up from The Truth (2019) and while Shoplifters (2018) was better, it's a far cry from his best films before 2010.

[MifuneFan]

Saw a trailer for this at the theater the other day (with Triangle of Sadness screening, both being NEON titles). Looks like an interesting film. Was surprised to see a Korean film from Kore-eda.

[vilos_cohaagen]

Not familiar with Decal's output. Reviews of their other discs here don't impress. Looking forward to seeing this, though. Maybe there'll be a good Korean version or all region Japanese one.

[BluBonnet]

This is my 2nd favourite Korean movie of the year (2022), right after Decision to Leave, and that's a pretty high bar, admittedly.

Really enjoyed how thoughtful and insightful the movie is, although it was even more leisurely paced than I had anticipated -- but that helps, too, because by the time it's over, it makes you feel like you've really grown to know the main characters and understand their life choices.

The cast is uniformly good, but Bae Doona is definitely my favourite actor here.

Definitely one of the best movies of 2022.

[unberechenbar]

I don't think this played in any theaters near me. Saw the trailer before Decision to Leave though. Too bad.

[thenexus6]

If you have Netflix and a VPN it's currently on South Korean service with english subtitles.

[unberechenbar]

Found out that my local AMC is showing this. I'll try to catch it. Will be interesting to compare it to Decision to Leave.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by unberechenbar

Found out that my local AMC is showing this. I'll try to catch it. Will be interesting to compare it to Decision to Leave.

I mean, I think they’ll be nothing alike.

[unberechenbar]

I thought this was not bad. Didn't make me feel much emotion. There were some beautiful locations. I would have liked to know more about Bae Doona's character. The scene where the kid grabs a bottle of soju to drink surprised me. I was wondering why

[Show spoiler]the nurse wanted to talk to the "father" of the child alone.

The introduction by the director was nice.

[SmittysGelato]

I loved this movie. It is restrained in style, yet it evokes so much as a result. Plus, my Korean wife IU is in it. Too bad there is no 4K available in North America. There is a German and Italian version, but apparently those do not have English subtitles.