Treeless Mountain

This very personal, naturalistic Korean film is all about emotional damage, and it's a real heartbreaker.

Drawing out beautifully natural performances from her child actors, Kim once again has a distinct way of letting her camera observe her characters with kind thoughtfulness, allowing for a quiet mood to wash over the scenes.

So Yong eschews drama for a quiet sensitivity which suggests the young can get over almost anything adults put upon them simply with native wit and resource.

Wonderful performances from the two young leads and a gently heart-breaking narrative arc make this a slow winner.

[The Film] offers a stark analysis of the human potential for random cruelty that recalls nothing less than Bresson's 'Mouchette', albeit with a denouement that holds a glimmer of optimism for the future.

A touching, gentle examination of the giddy rush and sickening sense of dislocation that comes with being left on your own when you're young.

Treeless Mountain is a very interesting, meditative drama. It presents a remarkable contrast to popular South Korean cinema, which is so often a very fast-paced, melodramatic experience.

This film by director So Yong Kim has, in my opinion, aesthetic qualities that make me reflect on the meaning of family and childhood tragedies, but it lacks emotional flair. [Full review in Spanish]

There is a melancholic innocence at work here, juxtaposed with the tender warmth of Kim's camera, and we are left with the question of whether childhood innocence has survived or ended too early.

What makes this slight narrative compelling is that it is told entirely from the children's point of view, synced to their perceptions and to the mercurial emotions that color them.