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Editorial Reviews
Review
Simply one of the best films about childhood ever made. --Melissa Anderson, Village Voice
A quiet, poignant drama of abandonment and resilience...an uncanny ability to enlarge your perception of the world. --A.O. Scott, New York Times
Treeless Mountain takes a radically different approach to the deprivations of childhood than Slumdog Millionaire, yet these films from the other side of the world will connect with audiences wherever they are shown. --Tom Charity, CNN
A quiet, poignant drama of abandonment and resilience...an uncanny ability to enlarge your perception of the world. --A.O. Scott, New York Times
Treeless Mountain takes a radically different approach to the deprivations of childhood than Slumdog Millionaire, yet these films from the other side of the world will connect with audiences wherever they are shown. --Tom Charity, CNN
Product Description
A powerfully poetic and lyrical tale on the calm resilience of children and sibling ties. When their mother leaves in order to find their estranged father, seven-year-old Jin and her younger sister, Bin, are left to live with their Big Aunt for the summer. With only a small piggy bank and their mother's promise to return when it is full, the two young girls are forced to acclimate to changes in their family life. Counting the days, and the coins, the two bright-eyed young girls eagerly anticipate their mother's homecoming. But when the bank fills up, and with their mother still not back, Big Aunt decides that she can no longer tend to the children. Taken to live on their grandparents' farm, it is here that Jin comes to learn the importance of family bonds and self-reliance in this beautiful, meditative, and thought-provoking second feature from So Yong Kim, the acclaimed director of In Between Days.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A young girl, barely 7 years old, is left to fend for her little sister when their mother leaves them both in the hands of a distracted and insensitive aunt. Promised by their mother that if they were good their aunt would give them coins and that she would come back when their piggy bank was full, the children improvise ways to earn small change and fill up the bank, hoping to hasten their mother's return.
So Yong Kim's follow up to the wonderful and understated In Between Days is a revelation of a film. Shot in a style that captures simple nuances of childhood without artifice, the film is also a formal masterpiece. Every shot is framed with care and precision, captures subtleties of gesture and emotion that feel utterly authentic, or captures settings and light and other natural elements to give a haiku-like accent to the mood of surrounding scenes. To say that this film is shot documentary-style is technically true, but may give the false impression of a amateur home-movie style video or shaky cameras and this film is nothing like that. In its formal precision that captures the essence of the reality it depicts rather than the raw subject matter the film is closer to work by the Dardenne Brothers or to that of Robert Bresson, than to the more ad hoc and improvised "documentary-style" cinematography of the Office television series or of something like Cloverfield or even District 9.
A delicate and lovely film about the fragility and resilience of childhood. Highly recommended.
So Yong Kim's follow up to the wonderful and understated In Between Days is a revelation of a film. Shot in a style that captures simple nuances of childhood without artifice, the film is also a formal masterpiece. Every shot is framed with care and precision, captures subtleties of gesture and emotion that feel utterly authentic, or captures settings and light and other natural elements to give a haiku-like accent to the mood of surrounding scenes. To say that this film is shot documentary-style is technically true, but may give the false impression of a amateur home-movie style video or shaky cameras and this film is nothing like that. In its formal precision that captures the essence of the reality it depicts rather than the raw subject matter the film is closer to work by the Dardenne Brothers or to that of Robert Bresson, than to the more ad hoc and improvised "documentary-style" cinematography of the Office television series or of something like Cloverfield or even District 9.
A delicate and lovely film about the fragility and resilience of childhood. Highly recommended.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm surprised I don't find more discussions about this movie. Why, because it is one of the best family movies I've seen and it portrays one of the saddest issues - that is the effect of adoption, divorce, foster care - all the estrangements that can occur between children and guardians.
What makes this movie different are the brilliant actors and the classy filming and editing. Never mind the sub-titles the movie just visually tells a story, some of the best scenes come from the subtle smiles and natural movements that only a child could render.
Fortunately this DVD comes with extras, whether through deleted scenes or interviews with the two leads that add comedy and poignancy to the film.
Amazingly two actors age five and seven are able to deliver a striking performance.
What makes this movie different are the brilliant actors and the classy filming and editing. Never mind the sub-titles the movie just visually tells a story, some of the best scenes come from the subtle smiles and natural movements that only a child could render.
Fortunately this DVD comes with extras, whether through deleted scenes or interviews with the two leads that add comedy and poignancy to the film.
Amazingly two actors age five and seven are able to deliver a striking performance.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Treeless Mountain was utterly charming, a far more upbeat take on a situation somewhat similar to Hirokazu Koreeda's tragic "Nobody Knows" ("Dare mo shiranai", 2004). A 30ish big-city single mom in dire financial straits drops off her seven and five-year-old daughters with the 50ish 'Big Aunt', her sister-in-law, a functioning alcoholic in a small town, who a few weeks later in turn dumps them on their 70ish maternal grandparents, who live on a rather primitive farm.
Mom has given the girls a piggy bank, and said she'd return by the time they've filled it, a white lie, of course, but the kids start collecting impaling and charbroiling grasshoppers (yum -- healthful animal protein) to sell to big aunt's neighbors at ten cents a pop. Then they discover that ten pennies take up more bank space than a dime, and engage in some currency conversion. Even though the piggy's now full, mom doesn't show up. Later, at the farm, the girls offer grandma the bank to buy herself new winter shoes.
It's not all sunshine. The girls have their quirks. Jin, the older daughter, has a bed-wetting problem, and frames little sister Bin, who gets revenge later. There are lots of little touches like that in all the characters, but it's all understated, and much is implied without being obvious. The overall impression is of a society that values its kids highly, and the extended family structure makes what might otherwise have been a tragic situation bearable and even light-hearted at times. On the commentary track, the director reveals she's dedicated the film to her own grandmother, the movie having been somewhat autobiographical.
Mom has given the girls a piggy bank, and said she'd return by the time they've filled it, a white lie, of course, but the kids start collecting impaling and charbroiling grasshoppers (yum -- healthful animal protein) to sell to big aunt's neighbors at ten cents a pop. Then they discover that ten pennies take up more bank space than a dime, and engage in some currency conversion. Even though the piggy's now full, mom doesn't show up. Later, at the farm, the girls offer grandma the bank to buy herself new winter shoes.
It's not all sunshine. The girls have their quirks. Jin, the older daughter, has a bed-wetting problem, and frames little sister Bin, who gets revenge later. There are lots of little touches like that in all the characters, but it's all understated, and much is implied without being obvious. The overall impression is of a society that values its kids highly, and the extended family structure makes what might otherwise have been a tragic situation bearable and even light-hearted at times. On the commentary track, the director reveals she's dedicated the film to her own grandmother, the movie having been somewhat autobiographical.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Boring story, pseudo ending for mainstream movie junkies; otherwise,...
When children are shuffled from family member to family member, it is too often told with good guys and bad guys. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Chris
Heartbreaking. Heartwarming.
For most of this film, the camera stays focused on the faces of two little girls.
Somehow, through their actions and reactions, I knew every setting in this exceptional... Read more
Somehow, through their actions and reactions, I knew every setting in this exceptional... Read more
Published 1 month ago by uniquefreak
One star because nothing's lower
This is the most boring movie I've ever watched. (SPOILER INCLUDED IN REVIEW). The director is big on silence, close-up shots, and long shots of nothing but black. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pattipeg S. Harjo
The Resilience of Children
"Treeless Mountain" is a beautiful and emotionally affecting film. In the film, two young girls are left in the care of an uncaring aunt so that the mother can supposedly go look... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Don R. Holloway
How such a little movie with little actors moved me soo much
Resilience of children, the hope, the literal translation of what parents say, and the need to be loved and wanted. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sincerely Yours
Circumstances that are hard to imagine
Treeless Mountain is a heartbreaking and stark docu-drama about two abandoned girls. As I watched these young children (5 & 7) make their way through their Korean world, I thought... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Steve
Like watching through the eyes of a child
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. Read more
Published 4 months ago by maximum verbosity
Treeless Mountain
I thought maybe it was just me but after my sister and my mother watched the movie ..they provided the same feedback...basically...it's alright. Not the attention retentive movie. Read more
Published 4 months ago by S. Povey
Good Effort, But Boring
I wanted to like this film, but found it to be very slow and got bored. Wasn't in the mood for yet another sad orphan movie as this reminded me of "Nobody Knows" and it's always... Read more
Published 5 months ago by SanDiegoJesse
Insight into modern problems raising a child in Korea
Very interesting movie putting light on problems facing modern South Koreans on raising a family.
Actors very natural.
Actors very natural.
Published 10 months ago by G. Marleau
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