Mother is a Whore

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Movie: Mother is a Whore
Revised romanization: Uhmmaneun Changnyeoda
Hangul: 엄마는 창녀다
Director: Lee Sang-Woo
Writer: Lee Sang-Woo
Producer: Lee Sang-Woo
Cinematographer: Jo Young-Jik
Release Date: March 31, 2011
Runtime: 95 min.
Distributor: Dream West Pictures
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Sang-Woo (Lee Sang-Woo) is a HIV positive 38-year-old man who lives in a small shed with his mother (Lee Yong-Nyeo). His mother at the age of 60 began working as a prostitute to support herself and her son out of their small shed. Meanwhile, Sang-Woo works as her pimp - collecting payment and arranging appointments with his cellphone. Their clients include a paraplegic man and soldiers on holiday.

Living through their difficult situation, Sang-Woo still carries a strong bond with his mother. Sang-Woo also harbors intense anger within. His father (Kwon Bum-Taek) abandoned them and then remarried into a seemingly normal family. But actually, his father married a woman (Kim Ji-Hee) who is a religious fanatic and their son (Jung Tae-Won) always locks himself away in his room. Sang-Woo often meets their daughter (his step-sister) for drinks outside of a Buddhist temple. Can Sang-Woo ever find a way out for himself and his mother?

Cast



Lee Sang-Woo	Lee Yong-Nyeo	Kwon Bum-Taek	Yoo Ae-Kyung
Sang-Woo	mother	Jung-Il	Hee-Soo

Additional Cast Members:

Kim Ji-Hee - Sang-Woo's step-mother (Jung-Il's wife)
Jung Tae-Won - Jo Hee-Chul (Hee-Soo's brother)
Oh Young-Geun - Sang-Woo's admirer (gay guy)

Trailer

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Film Festivals

2010 (34th) Hong Kong International Film Festival - March 21st-April 6th - Asian Digital Competition
2010 (12th) Mumbai Film Festival - October 21-28, 2010 - World Cinema
2010 (21st) Stockholm International Film Festival - October 21-28, 2010 - Asian Images *Nordic Premiere

Comments

Ki Apr 26 2011 6:59 am Came out of the screening for "Mother is a Whore" feeling exhausted - like being dragged through the mud and into a bottomless pit and back. In retrospect, I do feel better for it and glad I had the opportunity to watch the film. The movie with the shocking title of "Mother is a Whore" packs a lot of dynamics into characters that are mostly twisted, but not without rhyme or reasons. As shocking as the main premise of the film is - a son pimping out his mother, the movie is able to convey a strong story within this tragic situation. Main character, played by the movie director Lee Sang-Woo himself, harbors a lot of anger within which gets ultimately aimed at his father and the steps to get there are seriously disturbing, but compelling. The father, who eventually remarried into a family that could have been scripted by Sion Sono (religious zealot mom, recluse son, disillusioned daughter, and father with a sinister darkside) brings out another level complexity in the disturbing world of "Mother is a Whore". The movie is shocking, disturbing, dark, bleak, but created by someone with large amounts of storytelling talent and packed together in a powerful 90 minutes of cinematic drama. Fans of early Kim Ki-Duk films and darker Sion Sono films should especially appreciate "Mother is a Whore". I can't say I ever want to watch the film again, but I am glad to have watched the film and can't wait to see more works from Lee Sang-Woo.

P.S. - why the heck hasn't "Mother is a Whore" played in any Korean film festivals?

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