A very good movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, when the movie started, I was actually a little bit confused. Indeed, I watch movies really randomly, I have a massive queue, anyway, I thought it would be a Japanese movie. However, when it started, I noticed right away that it was actually taking place in South Korea so I thought maybe I was mistaken, maybe it was actually directed by someone like Bong Joon Ho or Chan-wook  Park for example. So, I stopped the movie to double-check and, indeed, as I thought from the start, it was a movie from Hirokazu Koreeda but taking place in South Korea this time which was super intriguing. He had also directed a movie in France called ‘La vérité’ but, even though there was a stellar cast involved, it turned out to be rather disappointing after all. Well, this one didn’t disappoint me, that’s for sure. This time, he handled such a really lugubrious theme (the trafficking of orphan babies) but he took such a beautiful humanist approach, the end-result was just quite mind-blowing. Seriously, I can imagine that some great directors would have turned it into some pitch-black dark drama which was what you would expect for such depressing material but I was just floored how Koreeda tackled it. Indeed, once again, he gave such complex and fully fledged characters, it was just fascinating to behold. The only issue I had was that there were probably too many characters involved and, at some point, I was actually struggling to figure out and remember who was who exactly. The fact that this whole group (the baby, the mother, the brokers, the runaway kid) got along so well at some point was also maybe too good to be true but, to be honest, I just love this optimistic and hopeful look Koreeda has on humanity in general. Basically, they were all some losers, some outcasts, but Koreeda displayed that they were all so full of life, that, in spite their dreary circumstances, they could still have a good laugh and make some meaningful connections. Basically, it displayed that they were worthy to be alive and, by extension, that we are all worthy to be alive which was such a beautiful inspirational message, something that you will keep experiencing when you watch the movies from this guy. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be Koreeda’s best movie, I still really loved the damned thing and he is slowly becoming one of my favorite directors, no less than that.