Broker

“Broker is a movie that distinctly blends Japanese director Kore-eda’s sensibilities with those of Korea.”

Title: Broker (2022) / Korean: 브로커
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda 👨🏻🇯🇵
Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda 👨🏻🇯🇵

Reviewed by Elaine 👩🏻🇺🇸

—MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD—

Technical: 4.75/5

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters (2018) balances grim situations with a warm humanity. The Japanese director’s latest film, Broker, could certainly be a companion piece, both of them featuring found family and people pushed to the margins of society. Where Shoplifters involved the kidnapping of a young girl, Broker centers around people who sell orphaned infants. This time though, the story takes place in South Korea, with a cast and crew composed of the country’s heaviest hitters. We have everyone from the perennial flawed father figure Song Kang-ho (2019’s Parasite) to composer Jung Jae-il (2017’s Okja and Netflix series Squid Game to name a few) to cinematographer Hong Kyung-Pyo (more on him later). It’s difficult to live up to such a stellar assemblage, but the film somehow manages to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Broker perfectly marries Kore-eda’s delicate writing with nuanced performances. Song’s known for playing the bumbling archetype, but his real talent is making a despicable character somehow likable. Equally phenomenal are Lee Ji-Eun (also known by her Kpop moniker IU) as a woman forced to make impossible decisions, the hugely sympathetic Gang Dong-won, and Bae Doona as the Inspector Javert-type following in their footsteps. It’s a credit to their skill that we believe not only their initial hard-edged façades, but also their well-earned vulnerabilities as the story unfolds.

Cinematographer Hong has been instrumental in so many Korean films, from Wailing (2016) to Burning (2018) to Parasite. So much so that if you’ve seen a South Korean film in recent years and thought to yourself “wow, that’s gorgeous,” you’ve probably witnessed him in action. Broker’s characters are boxed in by society, forced into situations due to prejudice or poverty. These figurative boxes make up the film, paralleled by the literal ones such as the crammed van of their road trip. Characters begin guarded, to each other and to the audience, so that we see them through windows or other barriers. By the end of the film though, we’re sharing an intimate space of a ferris wheel car together. Hong’s tasteful use of lighting, color, and camera movement always services—and never distracts from—what’s going on in the story.

Kore-eda’s writing and directing, of course, makes all of this possible. It’s amazing the amount of space he’ll give a conversation, rather than pushing in for an extreme close-up or shoehorning in a line of dialogue. He resists moral hand-holding, and instead acknowledges the murkiness of feelings, relationships, and family. Broker’s only false note lies in the ending, as if Kore-eda wasn’t quite sure how to wrap everything up. Kore-eda has said he only had the first two-thirds of the film written before shooting, and although the last bit doesn’t drop the ball, it does feel clunkier than the rest of the film. Despite that, Broker is one of his most beautiful to date, even amongst his impressive oeuvre.

Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES

Broker’s women defy easy categorization as bad or good. Often they are doing the best they can with what they’re given. The two main women, So-young (Lee) and Soo-jin (Bae) are at odds with each other—a woman selling her baby and a police officer trying to catch So-young in the act to arrest her. At Soo-jin’s side, Detective Lee (Lee Joo-young), strikes a balance between the two. Lee respects Soo-jin and wants to defer to her as her superior, but doesn’t always agree with her and acts as her moral counterpoint.

However, Broker is less concerned with any opposing sides, and more with the women’s emotional arcs as they come to understand one another. Kore-eda doesn’t shy away from their so-called villainous moments, but also gives them scenes of poignant, specific interiority. As the characters learn more about each other, he asks us to empathize with them, and to perhaps change our initial impressions when we do.

Broker’s men also function in service to the women. Sang-hyeon (Song) and Dong-soo (Gang) end up working together to fulfill So-young’s desires. Soo-jin’s husband shows up from time to time to bring her food or clothes when she’s on a stakeout. Even the two mobsters who become antagonists are hired by a woman who wants So-young’s baby, therefore acting out her will.

Race: 5/5

While this is Kore-eda’s first time working in Korea, the project was over five years in the making, stemming from Kore-eda’s conversations with some of the Korean actors as well as learning about baby boxes in Korea and Japan. The natural flow of the narrative, as well as its relevant social critique is likely due to his extensive research, as well as his open collaboration with the crew. Song provided help in navigating the cultural differences between Korea and Japan, and gave daily feedback. Kore-eda also workshopped extensively with the Korean actors such as Bae to make sure the script translated correctly and naturally. Broker, therefore, is a movie that is both distinctly Kore-eda and Korean.

Mediaversity Grade: A 4.92/5

Kore-eda brings us another moving portrayal of found families. Broker has morally gray characters, but as we share their journey, we come to understand them better and find out they’ve been shaped by a harsh society. Kore-eda suggests that perhaps we can do the same with the people in our actual lives. What begins as a bleak premise about a young mother giving away her baby belies an optimistic, empathetic view we could all benefit from.

Like Broker? Try these other titles featuring sensitive Japanese or Korean narratives.

Grade: ALiJanuary 29, 2023Great for: Race, Great for: Gender