Jamie Skinner reviews Broker; A young mother (Lee Ji-eun) joins the child traffickers (Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won) who have taken her baby from a Church baby box, not knowing the police (Bae Doona, Lee Joo-young) are after them.

Broker: Cert - 12, Run-time - 2 hour 9 minutes, Director - Hirokazu Kore-eda

Broker is a film which acknowledges to the audience and characters that everyone present is a stranger. It’s this fact which is used to integrate the viewer into the ensemble, as we learn about each figure in the exact moment those around them do. Details and reveals are unveiled through natural conversation allowing for a realistic sensibility to further engage in the actions of the group.

So-young (Lee Ji-eun) is a mother who leaves her baby in a Church baby box, hesitantly returning to find it having been taken by two laundry shop workers (Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won). From here she joins the pair travelling across South Korea in a rattling laundry van to sell Woo-sung - the mother being present may make a sale more likely and boost the amount of money gained. However, while one is aware that he imminently owes money, none know of the two police detectives (Bae Doona, Lee Joo-young) following them.

With each personal revelation about a character, and each figure gets their set of moments, a dysfunctional family unit begins to form. Slight humours emerge more frequently as the group becomes more comfortable around each other, strengthening the core bond displayed on screen. The more we learn the more writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda unveils the personal emotions which construct his finely performed characters.

Of course, once properly built up, the narrative also needs to move along - allowing for personal and group conflictions to come into play. When it seems like the run-time may be pushed and the film might be starting to drag itself out it reminds you of just what makes it so great in the first place. The internal, personal aspects at play; both those which are confirmed and those which haven’t been spoken of, shown in subtle looks and gazes. Perhaps the best example of this being a ferris wheel scene where the characters have no choice but to talk as they’re confined to an up-close and cramped space.

Kore-eda features plenty of long shots, excellently caught by cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, showing limited figures simply talking whilst being surrounded by the rest of the world. It’s a small, simple idea that says so much when used. Enhancing our view of the strangers we’re travelling with, and indeed their own worlds and viewpoints compared to everything around them.

Broker knows and understands its characters and yet gets to know them more as the journey takes place. We meet these wonderfully-performed strangers and somewhat get to know them overtime, yet the film still acknowledges that we don’t entirely know these people - and they don’t entirely know each other either. That’s the real key of Broker, and it makes for an engaging, emotional, yet occasionally effectively light, drama.

Jamie Skinner - Five stars