11th Mom (2007)

Oh, what can I say about this movie! It had so many elements to it that made it so wonderful. It was very heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. It really gives a nice view on what family can really mean and people who have hard lives. Even though some would say that the storyline is not something very possible, it is. I've had people in my lifetime that I know go through similar situations as Jae Soo and his Mom, so it really made me feel somewhat attached to this movie and imprinted it in my mind. Although... I would have loved for it to have a different ending... I think if the movie didn't have the ending it did, then the movie would not quite be what it is and it wouldn't have the same meaning.

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Soulful and at the same time ruthless KMovie at its finest

Wonderful actors are showing us their full range in "My 11th Mother" / "11th Mom." It's a shame that we haven't seen much from the young talent Kim Young-chan since then... Together with Kim Hye-soo, he offers chamber theater at its finest, going under the skin for long stretches. Here, action takes place inside sort of. So even though without much (seemingly) happening on the outside, time flies by just like that.

In this KMovie with deliberate realistic appeal, South Korea shows one of its rather bleak living environments at the lower end of the social pyramid. "11th Mom" offers space for a twisted, basic, yet truthful love amidst a fundamentally desolate setting in this rundown neighborhood of Seoul, where there seems to be no place for the sun to shine. Thus, eventually the faces of the hopeless nevertheless start to shine, too. All of a sudden, their everyday life is no longer just dull, as there is actually some happiness for the protagonists coming along their path. True enough, there is still plenty of sad stuff going on, however there is this joy all around the awareness of being loved, too.

The bonding between the eleven-year-old Jae-su and his 11th stepmother-against-her-will is giving both their lives direction, is offering warmth, and is even healing their wounded hearts. Actually that much so that the tormented Jae-su can somehow forgive his blustering, abusive, gambling-addicted, screwed and irresponsible father in the end.

Soulful and at the same time ruthless KMovie at its finest! Despite plenty of makeup, we are presented with unadorned, bruised, yet amazingly still intact human hearts. Fantastic: the finely nuanced, rough, and at the same time frail rapprochement between Jae-su and his stepmother against expectation.

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