1319
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by Gregg Shapiro
Aug 11, 2010
Prodigal Sons – Photo: Courtesy
Prodigal Sons
(First Run Features)
Transgender documentary filmmaker Kimberly Reed grew up in 1970s Helena, Mont., where anything could happen - and did. Reed’s childless parents, Loren and Carol, adopted baby Marc because they thought they were unable to conceive. But shortly after that, Carol became pregnant with Kim, born Paul, who was followed by another baby, Todd.
The three brothers had a fairytale childhood. But after high school, Kim (then Paul) left for San Francisco and then New York. As Kim puts, she went to San Francisco as a man and left a woman.
Returning home to Helena for her high school reunion, Reed looked forward to reconnecting with old classmates as her new self, with her girlfriend Claire by her side. Voted “most likely to succeed,” the former quarterback was prepared for anything. Kim’s fears soon faded as she and Claire were well received by her former classmates.
The problem, as it turned out, was much closer to home. Brother Marc, who had always been competitive with Paul because of their proximity in age, also attended the reunion. Already somewhat unstable, head injuries from car and truck accidents left him volatile and unpredictable. When he says that he would have given anything to be the man Kim had given every thing not to be, you believe him. Despite being heavily medicated, Marc was unable to contain his animosity towards Kim. He eventually became violent and the siblings went their separate ways.
But Kim was genuinely interested in making peace with Marc. She learned that he was in the process of tracking down his birth parent and offered to film the meeting. Marc’s birth mother was the late Rebecca Welles, daughter of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles (Marc bears a strong resemblance to Welles).
Kim journeyed with Marc and his wife and daughter to Split, Croatia to meet Oja Kodar, the longtime companion of the late Orson Welles. Kodar provided him with many of the pieces missing from his life. Finally, Marc had an identity not built in opposition to Kim and he appeared to be at peace. But the peace was short-lived and a violent outburst at a family Christmas reunion nearly destroyed the family.
It’s obvious that Reed set out to make a film about one thing which turned into something else entirely. Both stories have their own power, and combined they make for explosive cinema.
Mother
(Magnolia)
Single mom, herbalist and unlicensed acupuncture practitioner, the titular Mother (Kim Hye-ja) of Bong Joon-ho’s film has her hands full with her simple-minded son Do-joon (Won Bin). It’s not enough that he sleeps in her bed, but the twenty-something boy is always getting into trouble with best friend Jin-tae (Goo Jin).
After one drunken night at Bar Manhattan, he follows teenaged Moon Ah-jung (Moon-hee Na) who is found murdered the next morning. Do-joon is arrested as a suspect. Without too much convincing, police detective Je-mun (Yoon Jae-moon) gets Do-joon to sign a confession, even though he may be innocent of the crime.
As we soon discover, there is nothing this devoted mother won’t do to clear her son’s name. She shows up and causes a ruckus at Moon Ah-jung’s funeral. She hires an outrageously expensive attorney to take the case. She sneaks into Jin-tae’s house and gets what she thinks might be the murder weapon to incriminate him but later teams up with him to catch the murderer. While investigating the rumors about the murdered girl – including her sexual promiscuity and use of her camera phone to record her conquests – Mother gets more than she bargained for.
Kim Hye-ja gives an extraordinary performance as the seemingly unstoppable Mother. When you see her dancing, you may find it difficult not to rise up and join her.
