User Reviews

I knew what I was getting into before seeing this film by reading the synopsis...how anyone couldn't know that is beyond me. Based on the synopsis, I thought this film might be like the Japanese "Nobody Knows," which is one of my all-time favorite films.

I don't think "Treeless Mountain" is as good, but I certainly was glad I saw it. But it is very, very sad, and the two little girls, especially the older one, did a fantastic job. The film certainly depicts their resiliency, but it is so sad that they essentially got screwed over in their life only because of who their Mom was, not for something they specifically did. Maybe they'll have a happy life, but only because they'll make the best out of a very unfortunate situation.

A little bit better than 7, but not quite an 8, in my opinion. If I could have put 7.5 as my rating, that's what I would have done.

A follow up to her remarkable first feature In Between Days - a coming-of-age story about a Korean immigrant girl's painful adolescence, Treeless Mountain loosely reflects the personal experiences of writer-director So Yong Kim who grew up in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. when she was twelve years old. It is a meticulously observed portrait of two Korean girls, ages 5 and 7, coping with the terrors of having to rely mostly on their own resources when their mother leaves to search for their estranged father. Like Kelly Reichardt's minimalist Wendy and Lucy, not much happens in the way of plot but the film is less about what happens externally than internally - in the character's tentative groping toward maturity.

Kim's camera is always close to the girls' faces, allowing us to see the world through their eyes. It is still an innocent world but one that is becoming more knowing and, unfortunately, more acclimatized to the lies of adults. When seven-year-old Jin (Hee Yeon Kim) and her younger sister Bin (Song Hee Kim) are left by their mother (Soo Ah Lee) in the care of an alcoholic aunt (Mi Hyang Kim), she gives them a piggy bank and tells them that each time they listen to "Big Aunt", a coin will be deposited in their bank. When it is filled, she will return. Big Aunt is cold and cranky and clearly cannot handle the responsibility of caring for the young girls but is more annoying than abusive, calling them a "pain" to be around and berating young Bin for bed wetting.

In one scene, she gives the girls a bowl and tells them to beg the neighbors for sugar. In another, she demands money from a neighbor for a minor scratch Bin suffers when playing with her son. Bin and Jin manage to find friendship, however, with a little handicapped boy and pass the time by capturing and roasting grasshoppers to sell on the streets to help fill their piggy bank. When they discover that they can exchange one large coin for many small ones, they are one step closer to what they believe will be their mother's return. When the bank is filled, the girls wait for their mother at the bus stop, losing faith with each bus that comes and goes without their mother. It is a heartbreaking scene that brings back memories of classic neorealist films of the past.

Optimism and inner strength surface again, however, when, after receiving a letter from the girls' mother, Big Aunt delivers them to their grandparents farm in the countryside. In their return to nature, they can at last breathe free and open themselves to the caring they so desperately need. Recruited through the director's observations of children at local Korean schools rather than through talent agencies, the performances of Hee Yeon Kim and Song Hee Kim are models of authenticity.

There is never any sense that they are simply acting or going through the motions. In the tradition of Koreeda's Nobody Knows, and Ozu's I Was Born But.., Treeless Mountain avoids histrionics or crowd pleasing sentimentality. It is a film about particular children but one that has universal appeal, touching everyone who has experienced the fear of abandonment at one time or another. That means all of us.

Mr. Schumann's review was the best I've read here. He pretty much said everything I wanted to say. This is a beautiful film. It is not a Hollywood film and doesn't tie up everything neatly in the end. There is no denouement; the film ends and you are left with a pocket full of the wonders. The two young girls were not aspiring actresses with agents and head-shots. They could not have been better and I was shocked to find that they were not sisters. The director kept her camera close to kids' faces and sort of provides another proof of an old Eisenstein experiment. A tremendous film, truly moving in an almost Dickensian way. See it. I've been catching it on the Sundance Channel. It is scheduled to play on Saturday around 2:50pm. The date would be 1/15/11.

It was about two Korean kids which follows after their mother leave them in theirs aunt's house to fix her relationship with her husband. Their mother gives a piggy-bank and tells them will be back before it get full. So the mission begins to these kids fill the piggy-bank. But very soon everything turns upside down when their mother and aunt turn it down to take care. And what happens to their future is the remaining story.

It was a very close theme to 'Children of Invention' and 'Mommo'. Our heart really suffers to see the kids struggle to survive the world. In one minute they had everything in life like all the normal kids then in the next minute they unwanted to their dear ones. To see from the kids' perspective it was truly hurtful but the girls respond very well to the situations and for each others stays strong together.

There was a scene where kids involve in some cruel incident. Due to cultural difference (especially foods) it might make a bit uncomfortable with the sensitive audience. I mean I was saying about grasshoppers in the movie.

The direction was exceptional, the movie looked original and realistic. Both the kids were cute and did an awesome job. This is easily one of a best children's movie as well Korean.

9/10

Treeless Mountain is a simple tale from South Korea. It concerns two very young girls, Jin and Bin, who are placed in the care of their cynical aunt, after their mother can no longer care for them.

The film's focus is almost exclusively on the two children (marvelously played by two wonderful child actors, Hee-yeon Kim as Jin and Song-hee Kim as Bin). We follow Jin and Bin trying to fill their piggy bank with coins after their mother promises them she will return as soon as they've collected enough coins to fill the bank. With great self-sufficiency, they end up selling cooked grasshoppers to local kids for coins which they can place in the piggy bank. They even realize they can fill up the piggy bank much faster by exchanging larger coins for smaller one's. Often the girls find themselves hungry as their aunt doesn't want to lose extra money buying them food. Jin has been charged by her mother to look after her younger sister and she's the one who informs Bin that their mother is probably not coming back.

Finally, the girl's aunt no longer feels she can take care of the children, so she brings them to live with her elderly parents in the country. At the film's climax, the girls seem to be doing better since their grandmother appears to be a loving person who is truly interested in their welfare.

The film's strength lies in ably presenting an indelible portrait of childhood. There is, of course, a great touch of sadness, as we watch the children trying to cope after losing their mother. By the same token, the audience feels dissatisfied since we never learn why the mother abandoned the children (if she was destitute, how did that come about? Further, what were the problems she was having with her husband that led her to abandon the children?).

In addition to the failure to answer the mystery concerning the mother, there aren't enough dramatic moments in the plot to keep the story moving forward in a satisfactory manner. At some point, the children need to face a tangible, external crisis which must be resolved. The abandonment by the mother is merely the inciting incident--a series of deepening crises needed to happen but never were proffered.

Despite the touching performances of the two principals, Treeless Mountain is a bit too mundane to deserve accolades as true art house fare.

What happens when your mother (Soo-ah Lee) leaves to reconcile with your dad because times are tough and says she will return when you fill the piggy-bank she gives you? Well, two sisters, Jin (Hee-yeon Kim) and Bin (Song-hee Kim) soon find out that they are on their own. Jin is only 6 and must mature quickly to care for her sister. Mom left them with their Aunt (Mi-hyang Kim), but she's not much help battling an alcohol problem.

They don't get fed regularly, so they catch grasshoppers to fry. They figure they can get change and fill the bank faster, but mom doesn't show as they expect.

Soon, Auntie ships them off to their grandparent's farm. At least now they will have plenty to eat.

It's tough to be separated from your parent. I could tell numerous stories of children that will put up with abuse to not be separated. This was a nice view of Korean life through the eyes of two little girls with angelic faces.