The Plot: On a rainy night in Busan, So-young (Ji-eun Lee) anonymously leaves her unwanted child at a baby box facility to find a new home. Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) works there but rather than put the child into the system, he smuggles it away to friend and broker Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho). The latter is in debt and needs money, so he plans to travel to another city and sell the child to a prospective couple outside of the system as they are unable to adopt. Then So-young turns up unexpectedly and wants a cut of the deal. She tags along for the ride, wanting her child to be raised by the right people. On their tail are Female Youth Division detectives Soo-jin (Doona Bae) and Lee (Lee Joo-Young) who plan a sting operation…
The Verdict: Over the years, Hirokazu Kore-eda has established himself as not only one of Japan’s finest contemporary directors, but also one of its great observers of modern family life in whatever form that takes. His gentle, observational style of directing has established him well beyond his home country to find international acclaim for his universal stories that transcend culture and language. His latest film Broker, one of his best, quite rightly took two prizes at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and scored the man himself a nomination for the esteemed Palme d’Or. It follows on from his earlier film Shoplifters, a spiritual cousin of sorts to Broker. His new film focuses on a disparate group of people from various backgrounds who come together to protect a young child, while evading the law and finding a home for the child outside of the traditional system.
Kore-eda’s script started life as Cradle before eventually settling on Broker, building out from the single Japanese baby box system to South Korea where it’s much more prevalent. It’s an intriguing setup with a lot of thinking involved in developing the characters. In doing so, he touches upon a number of troubling themes including child abandonment, human trafficking and more that would breach spoiler territory. That sounds like a heady mix of elements for a director known for relatively quiet dramas. Kore-eda is a master at not letting such elements overtake the narrative and overshadow the already well-developed characters he’s constructed. Dong-Soo and Sang-hyun think that they can go on to find a new home for the child and sell him. However, the one in forty chance of the birth mother turning up to reclaim the child happens, throwing them all together in a ragtag sort of enterprise as they hit the road with an older, smarter kid in tow.
The baby box scenario is a curious phenomenon to begin with, at least from a western perspective. What makes the film work well and makes it so accessible is that Kore-eda doesn’t bend to sentimentality or the need for a resolution that ties things up neatly in a Hollywood-style bow. Life is messy, but there can be order if sought out. Even from the early scenes, it’s clear that the best interests of the abandoned child are at heart for this group of characters. They may not form a nuclear family, but they do form a family unit of sorts as they act out their roles and care for the child by the hour. Love is what make a family work. There’s a lot of joy to be found here in these simple but effective scenes that are well-acted by the cast, with Kore-eda including some backstory that justifies their characters’ choices. Even the cops in pursuit have their own motivations, making it more than a slow-burning road movie. There’s a lot of heart here, a Kore-eda trademark, which works well for his well-established admirers or an ideal entry point to his unique style of emotionally-charged directing. If, as the film suggests, it takes a village to raise a child then this village is worth inhabiting. Broker cuts a hard bargain and is a great deal that won’t shortchange you in the process.
Rating: 4 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
