Well, it won't be too long before you won't be able to go two internet steps without tripping over a top ten list, not to mention the Academy's. I might as well join the party. I've seen quite a bit this year and even though I've heard a lot of discussion this year about the difficulty of picking 10 prime movies which at first I passed off as elitists nonsense. But, since trying to compile my list I now understand the complexity of picking 10 movies. I'll try to cover ten of my favorites with and individual post for each. This installment is Treeless Mountain.

Treeless Mountain


Although this movie was released in the fall of 2008 in South Korea and in Canada, I've decided to include it in my 2009 list because it wasn't released to the majority of the world until 2009. The thing that hooked me on this movie was the trailer which, in a very small time frame seemed to cover the entire scope of the film, including all the highs and lows. The trailer also had a pretty cool song from Asobi Sesku which reminded me of the jingle of the holiday season or the optimism of youth wrapped in a popish wrapping paper. This was a different story than the actual movie which had no score except for the credits.
It was hard finding this movie. It wasn't available to rent near me and the netflix version was broken. I ended up renting it on itunes which wasn't all that bad of an experience except for the fact that it probably would've looked a lot better on DVD.

The movie which I knew very little about, until I stumbled across the trailer on itunes, turned out be a refreshing tale of two sisters who deal with their mother leaving to find their father whom is absent for whatever reason. The movie is fairly monochromatic in tone and visuals. Its biggest strength is the way that it plays out quiet moments. In fact, the whole movie is relatively quiet. There aren't any big voices, only small ones. Director Son Yon Kim rare ability to capture these small voices seems to stem from her own small voice. She only speaks Korean at a six or seven year old age range. Which she elaborates on in this interview.



The children in this movie are stunning. Their performances are so amazingly naturalistic. They are kids being kids not so much kids acting like kids. And their performances really leave an impression on the viewer. Sometimes I think of little Jin and Bin and wonder how they're doing.

Treeless Mountain might also be seen as a lesson about the virtues of rural living versus industrial society, though this point is never made explicit. The quiet tonal nature of this movie was particularly appealing to me. Everything else tends to lean towards hyper contrast whereas this movie stays simply sublime. This movie is easier on the eyes and a little harder on the heart. Thanks to So Yong Kim for sharing her semi autobiographical tale.