Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for “Broker.”
Award-winning director Kore-eda Hirokazu returns to the silver screen with his newest film “Broker.” Released on Dec. 26, 2022, “Broker” is a heart-warming yet melancholic drama about family, love and responsibility.
Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) are two men in the business of selling babies abandoned in a church baby box. Their hustle is interrupted by So-young (Lee Ji-eun), a struggling young mother who left her child Woo-sung (Park Ji-yong) in the baby box and returned to reclaim him. After finding out about the brokers, So-young agrees to keep their scheme a secret in exchange for a portion of the payment that they’d receive upon selling Woo-sung. The four of them travel across the country, meeting various buyers and developing deep connections with each other along the way. Simultaneously, Detective Soo-jin (Bae Doona) and her subordinate Detective Lee (Lee Joo-young) pursue the brokers in order to obtain proof of the black-market exchange and arrest them.
The movie itself is gorgeous; Kore-eda’s collaboration with famed cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo — cinematographer for the film “Parasite” — results in a contemplative film with a pacing akin to a heartbeat. Moments of serenity are interspersed throughout the narrative. For instance, So-young sticks her hand out in the rain and the camera lingers as the droplets collect against her skin in a meditative trance. Similar scenes share this affection for mundane yet tender instances and epitomize Kore-eda’s fondness for immersive storytelling.
Despite its slow pacing, the film doesn’t fall behind because there is a prevailing sense of urgency due to the detective’s pursuit as well as a larger, more insidious mystery behind So-young’s predicament. The slower, poignant moments of family bonding are suspended in a delicate glass-like prism that could be shattered at any point in time.
At its core, “Broker” is a story about unconventional kinship. The characters that travel across Korea in a run-down van are all sort of run-down themselves: Sang-hyeon is an ex-con, Dong-soo and Hae-jin are orphans, and So-young is a single mom who is actively trying to sell her child. These characters are archetypes of humans that exist on the fringes of society — people that are easy to overlook. Essentially, they were all abandoned by their biological families and forced to endure life alone until they found solace in each other.
Kore-eda contemplates the true meaning of family in his other works as well — most notably in his 2018 film “Shoplifters” and his 2013 film “Like Father, Like Son.” Both films are centered around the idea of “chosen family” and explore issues pertinent to Japanese society that are still universal in experience. With the addition of “Broker,” this trio of movies questions the validity and necessity of a traditional family unit in the face of hardship such as poverty and social stigma. Kore-eda highlights how unorthodox families can be just as nurturing as the typical nuclear family.
However, due to Kore-eda’s repetitive narrative focus on “found family,” social acceptance and observation of loneliness, “Broker” isn’t the strongest film in terms of its story. A family of misfits banding together and going on a life-changing journey is a tale as old as time. Because of this, the script of “Broker” is at times too predictable, and some characters feel quite one-dimensional.
Despite its flaws, “Broker” achieves its main goal: evoking compassion and reflection in the viewer through flawed characters. At the climax of the film, there is a scene in which So-young thanks the rest of the characters for being born despite the hardships that they had to face. As people that were abandoned by those that should have loved them the most, these simple words give them the profound acceptance and validation that they deserve. Although the characters aren’t related by blood, it is clear how much they cherish each other. “Broker” echoes the sentiment that even imperfect humans are worthy of love.
When interviewed by Patrick Brzeski for The Hollywood Reporter, Kore-eda revealed his philosophy behind his filmmaking: “I have these characters and I’m on a journey with them, and I ask myself, what can I do while I have this time with them?”
This attitude of following characters in a documentary-like way is what makes “Broker” feel so genuine in its portrayal of emotion. Coupled with the strong performances of the actors and delicate cinematography, the film is a wonderful study of the compassion of the human psyche. “Broker” teaches us how love can transcend the institution of the nuclear family.
Lauren Koh is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the winter 2023 quarter. She can be reached at lkoh@uci.edu.
