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a possible explanation for those who need one

posted 14 years ago by jjjaaammmeeesss
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after first viewing 'mother', I felt slightly disappointed. the film seemed to have a great amount of potential ruined by poor pacing and plot issues. upon reflection and a second viewing, I came to understand that the pacing and plot of the film are probably it's greatest strengths, as much of what occurs in joon-ho bong's masterwork goes largely unexplained. it seems as if a number of people I know personally, as well as many IMDb members on the 'mother' message boards, had a similar problem, and can't quite make sense of the film, so I'd like to provide my own explanation for a few of the more complex elements within the movie. I apologize if my explanation seems at all convoluted or appears to reiterate what has been said on other boards.

firstly, and most importantly, the ending. do-joon is not, I feel, at all aware of the murder which his mother committed to defend him. the reason for the look of shock and horror on his mother's face, as well as her prompt exit from the bus terminal, is that she had, up until this point, not been aware of the murder she committed either. at the beginning of the film we see her dance in a field wearing a purple florally-designed jacket, blue dress and dark shoes. it's no coincidence that these are the same clothes which she has worn when murdering the junk-collector, as we can infer that after she murdered him, she gave herself the fabled acupuncture which can make one forget ones pain (after setting fire to the house we saw her wake up in a woodland area appearing both confused and refreshed, suggesting that she gave herself the acupuncture) - in other words, she would no longer remember killing the witness of do-joon's crime. she again does this aboard the bus to forget her ordeal, in an ending that is undeniably referential to chan-wook park's seminal south-korean film 'oldboy'.

secondly, the junk-collector. this is a character who had had sex with do-joon's victim at least once before (hence his picture being in her phone). this is suggested in the film his preparations for another sexual encounter (laying down a mat and even preparing a bowl of rice, supposedly the an appropriate currency with which the girl was to be paid). we can assume that the junk-collector was waiting her for her to cross his path again. when the junk-collector recounts his story to the mother, it is only natural that he would omit this detail, as such information would only serve to incriminate him and make him a suspect.

thirdly, and perhaps slightly irrelevantly, some viewers have expressed discomfort over an implied sexual relationship between do-joon and his mother. I personally believe that this is non-existent. do-joon says that he has "slept with" his mother to jin-tae, to which jin-tae replies "idiot". here, do-joon is mistaking the act of sexual congress for that of sleeping in a literal sense, as he and his mother share a bed. the sharing of the bed is most likely included to highlight the strength of the maternal influence which do-joon's mother holds over him, and the unnatural bond they share as a result.

I hope this has helped people understand a truly fascinating movie.

[–] Black_Tupelo 14 years ago

I quite like your explanations, but I'm not convinced on the point she gave herself acupuncture immediately following the junk collector's murder. Do-joon found her box of needles in the ruins of the fire, which suggests to me that the Mother left her belongings behind in the confusion and distress after the murder. She has a purse with her upon arriving at the junk collector's place, but she doesn't have that with her as she slips out of the building. Unless she had a second set of needles, I think it's unlikely she did the acupuncture before the dancing in the field scene.

Rather, I interpreted the return of the needles in two ways:

1. Do-joon remembered seeing the junk collector when he accidentally killed the girl. Since he told his mother about it, was subsequently released from jail, learned of the junk collector's death, and then found his mother's acupuncture set in the ruins of the fire, he may have put two and two together and figured out that his mother was responsible for the old man's death. This leads to an interpretation that he's actually smarter than he pretends to be and he's calculatedly letting her know that he's aware of her secret. That freaks her out and it's at that point she does the memory-cleaning acupuncture on the bus.

2. Mother kills the junk collector and then burns the place down to cover up her crime. Her distress ultimately leads to shock and she passes out both from exhaustion and being mentally overwhelmed. She wakes up in the woodland near the field but has suppressed the memory of the murder. In this case, her dancing in the field has to do with a sense of liberation, either hers or her son's, even though she's unaware of the cause. Later, Do-joon finds the acupuncture set in the ruins of the fire, but doesn't make the connection to the murder and arson cover-up. He simply wishes to return the set to her, knowing how important it is to her. The return of the set freaks her out because her memory returns and she does the memory-clearing acupuncture on the bus after reconciling her guilt and what her son's liberty cost.

Frankly, I don't know which of these I prefer.

[–] nocturnaljourney 14 years ago

I think boogar got it, and I think it's option #2.

[–] Ro-bust 14 years ago

no option 1

[–] nocturnaljourney 14 years ago

You have to remember that Mother could not have given acupuncture to herself right after killing the junk collector, because she left her kit in the house that burnt down. Later Do-Joon found the kit and gave it back to the mother.

Her dancing in the field is either a 1) plot-hole 2) she is just as crazy as Do-Joon and was dancing for fun. You are right to notice her clothes though.

Any alternative theories as to why she was dancing?

[–] Tonnie21 14 years ago

I always took it as the only murderer in the story is the mother who murders the Junk collector. Do-joons weird ticks like rubbing his head and getting mad when someone calls him retard could be something anyone who lives in that small town would know. And the junk guy knew she was his mother because he was in the crowd when she was passing out the flyers for him.

What I found odd was that the junk collector stayed quiet for weeks then suddenly was in a rush to call the police after the mother tells him her son was innocent.

The Junk collector was sprinkling some rice into a bag when he went to the abandoned house, which was where the girl was headed to because he was one of the men she was having sex with. I think the junk collector was scared that Do-joon remembered him being there and thus the blame for her death would be on him so he wanted to tell what he "saw" to keep him in prison.

If anything, she had the nose bleed while having sex with the Junk collector who probably convinced JP he was the one having sex with her, the nose bleed is probably what really killed her. JP put her on the roof so that everyone could find her and help her, but it was to late.

As for why she was dancing after the house was burned down. I think that was just her losing it by that point.

[–] trevis_jervis 13 years ago

I'm impartial to your theory for one simple reason;

I watched that scene or flashback of the junk collector again and Do-joon reaction is too striking Ah-jUng with the rock seem too authentic not to be real,plus your theory does not support the golf ball being on the roof. Although I must say, that was TOO a perfect throw.

JP was in no way responsible for Ah-Jung death, directly anyway. We can clearly see this from Mother interaction with him at the prison where she asks about his parents, specifically about his mother. She was seeking penance from him, since her son is off the hook (although he is fully guilty) whilst this crazy guy (JP) takes the blame, although ultimately it wouldn't matter because JP is just going to reside exactly where he was. THE SANATORIUM. She asks about his mother, in the hopes that there was someone there willing to go to the links she went too.

We can confirm that JP slept with her, when Mother flicks through the photos on Ah-Jung phone, we see JP in boxer only (if you recall, this was the prison scene where Do-Joon ID's the junk collector)

[–] ManFromSanFernando 13 years ago

Great write up,thanks :-)