One of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It crushed me for sure but the two singing grasshopper will forever live rent free in my head.

So heartfelt excellent acting loved this movie

A lot of people like the threadbare minimalism of this coming of age tale, but I found it was rather lacking. Two girls' mother leaves them with their alcoholic aunt in search of her husband. Then the aunt leaves them with the grandparents on a farm. The end. The film doesn't have a lot to offer except the two performances of the children who are decent.

Very reminiscent of "What Maisie Knew." The movies are so similar I actually wonder if it was influenced by Treeless Mountain. Probably not, but they are eerily close. The young girls do great jobs just being kids.

4.7/5 Existen pocas películas que puedan transmitir tanto, que se cree un vínculo tan sustancioso con el espectador, "Treeless Mountain" es una de ellas. So Yong Kim utiliza la mayoría del tiempo primeros planos para crear una empatía con las dos protagonistas; es un filme asfixiante, triste, lleno de desesperación, pero con un toque de esperanza. Cada detalle, cada reacción por parte de los personajes es captada de manera excepcional por la cámara, y para rematar, la fotografía es estupenda. De algo no hay duda, te adentrarás en el mundo de "Treeless Mountain", y podrá no ser un viaje muy agradable, pero si inolvidable.

truly heartbreaking realism, priceless performance of the two sisters

"Treeless Mountain" does a lot of things right, but it's perhaps too quiet, too simplistic, and too linear. With such an avid execution of children and their approaches to their struggles, there is surprisingly much more to be desired for. Maybe this film wasn't for me. Even as I type out this review, I see there are many more things to appreciate about "Treeless Mountain", but there needs to be a little more "oomph" in the package -- and I'm not just talking about the pacing; I'm talking about the entire film itself. "Treeless Mountain" is one of those movies where watching the movie is an okay experience, but afterwards, you're able to talk about it and remember it for days. Hey, 3 stars is good in my book and is still recommended a viewing, yet it's definitely an acquired taste.

Treeless Mountain (So-yong Kim, 2008) Not long ago I reviewed a failed-potential coming-of-age film called Trees Grow Tall and Then They Fall (q.v.). It has a number of things in common with Treeless Mountain beyond the titles making reference to trees. In many places where the former film gets things wrong, Treeless Mountain gets things right, and yet for the most part it still left me kind of cold; it is possible that there's simply a failing in the attempt to translate the bildungsroman to film, or that neither of these directors, both of whom seemed to be going for a kind of gritty-realism-combined-with-fantasy-escapism, weren;t quite sure how to do what they wanted to do without the fantasy-escapism bit going over into the blatantly-unrealistic realms of, say, The Passion of Darkly Noon (or, more contemporarily, Guillermo del Toro's wonderful coming-of-age fantasies El Espinazo del Diablo and El Laberinto del Fauno), which neither director wanted to do. The end result: two oddly unsatisfying movies, though in every way that matters, Treeless Mountain is the superior of the two. Plot: Two young girls, Jin and Bin (non-actors Hee-yeon and Song-hee Kim, respectively; Hee-yeon has never acted before, Song-hee is on her second screen appearance here), are left by their cosmopolitan mother (Soo-ah Lee, also in her first screen appearance) with their hard-drinking, working-class aunt, known in the film only as Big Aunt (Jesus Hospital's Mi-hyang Kim in her feature debut), while she goes off looking for their father after receiving a mysterious letter. Or so she says, anyway; as time goes on and she does not return, her motives become suspect. Ultimately, however, they are irrelevant, as the story focuses on the two girls, who try to make their way in their new, hardscrabble society, returning each day to a barren hillock, the treeless mountain of the title, that overlooks the bus stop where they expect their mother to return. There is a general problem with movies like this, and there is a problem more specific to this one. The general one is that nothing much really happens in such movies, and so the movie is by definition driven by characters, not plot. The choice of non-actors for most of the roles here was a bold one, but I'm not sure it was the right one given the story. To say this is not, I hope, to take anything away from those actors; they all do a very good job with what they have here, but had they had more experience under their collective belt, I think they could have turned it into a bigger, wider whole than it is. The more specific problem has to do with where Kim, who also wrote the screenplay, ends the story. I can't go into a great amount of detail without spoilers, but I think this movie woud have worked better had it ended either ten minutes before it did (before, without being spoilery, Big Aunt makes the decision that drives the last sequences of the film) or ten minutes after (in which we would have had more time to explore the ramifications of the event in question). None of this is meant to convey that I didn't like the film. I did, and I do recommend it; just be aware that what you're getting may not exactly be what you think you're getting. (A warning for the animal lovers: there is a sequence in the middle of the film that involves the roasting and eating of grasshoppers a number of times.) ***

Very sobering movie, based on real life struggles. My heart was breaking throughout this movie, wondering how many children are roaming the streets or living w relatives that do not want them because of parents who were unable to provide for them... It's good for us who have it so good, to watch & get a reality check, that life is very hard for so many in this world..

absolutely loved it. the little girl who plays Jin is remarkable.

Draws a lotta comparisons with "Where the Wild Things Are" except much more grim and less chaotic. "Treeless Mountain"'s a super slow burn, and I mean, REAL slow. I'm okay with pacing that is patient but when there are very little developments over the course of an hour, it becomes an issue. However, just like "Where the Wild Things Are" its an outstandingly realistic portrayal of children during times of emotional trauma. The acting's incredibly believable. Half way through, I thought to myself, "Are these kids really acting? Did the filmmakers raise these two kids to undergo the same exact nurture as they are throughout the course of the film and just shoot snippets of their real life?" Hee Yeon Kim, the older sister, does a phenomenal job ...and she's only 6. Take some notes Hayden Christiansen. Because these are very young children, there's hardly any dialogue spoken to express their emotions but yet, we see the utter pain of betrayal and loneliness in Hee Yeon Kim's eyes; your heart'll brighten up when you see her crack a smile from the simplistic joys of life; you'll see her gaze harden up against the world to not get hurt again -- all through her transparent eyes of innocence. So obviously, the film rightfully focuses almost 90% of the camerawork on face-shots of these two children -- this is no exaggeration. The children may be in a setting where there's a lot of movement, people talking about important issues, and people working and fighting that is rightfully a life-changing element for these children, but the camera ceases to ease its focus off of these two children. And during all of this, we see symbolism left and right, neatly tying this in a neat package. For these reasons, "Treeless Mountain" works wonderfully, but it all comes crashing down due to its extremely poor pacing and the lack of true interest throughout the course of the narrative. Don't get me wrong -- by the end of the movie, the narrative had a strong, rigid grip on me, but between the heartbreaking introduction and the ending, it was a sharp character study with EXTREMELY minimal advances in the storytelling department. There IS substance, but not enough plot elements to keep this movie engaging throughout. It's sort of like "Tree of Life": It captures many of the candid and unexpected moments of everyday childhood and so, handpicking out each individual scene doesn't help explain the narrative at ALL. But how the movie works is when the viewer looks at a single scene through the collection of knowledge accumulated by the viewer's observation of previous scenes which showcased these children's everyday behavior. It's clever and helps the viewers dig into the emotional turmoil of these hearts, but it results in an uninteresting, almost repetitive narrative. I'm not saying I want an explosion every two seconds -- I'm saying that some of these scenes involve these kids, at one moment, drawing something in their notebook, and the other moment, them hand-washing their clothing; it makes it a rather, somewhat, repetitive film. Also, there seems to be a lacking quality in this film that's apparently found in many other movies, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. What do I mean? It's a good movie, but with such a premise like this with such raw emotions spewing from its excellent cast, it could've been a masterpiece but there's a lacking in its execution -- I'm just not sure how to pinpoint it. "Treeless Mountain" does a lot of things right, but it's perhaps too quiet, too simplistic, and too linear. With such an avid execution of children and their approaches to their struggles, there is surprisingly much more to be desired for. Maybe this film wasn't for me. Even as I type out this review, I see there are many more things to appreciate about "Treeless Mountain", but there needs to be a little more "oomph" in the package -- and I'm not just talking about the pacing; I'm talking about the entire film itself. "Treeless Mountain" is one of those movies where watching the movie is an okay experience, but afterwards, you're able to talk about it and remember it for days. Hey, 3 stars is good in my book and is still recommended a viewing, yet it's definitely an acquired taste.

A special movie. Two small children experience both emotional and physical hardship after they are left with an aunt by their mother. Eventually they go to live with their grandparents. The sense of abandonment and despair is tangible. I also enjoyed the portrayal of three very different regions within Korea, from the high rise urban to the immediacy and contentment of peasant existence. Lots of good atmospheric photography and excellent acting. Skyscapes are a particular feature.

What a poignant, simple, moving film. These little girls captivate the audience in this melancholy tale. I was riveted, just by their depth of expression and the realism of the story. I hope to see Hee Yeon Kim on screen again.

A sad depiction of innocence, although abandoned children is never going to be an easy watch.

Very good film. Well worth watching and gives an interesting insight into life in Korea. The last part of the film was a bit slow.

An engaging character study of two young girls that manages to draw in the audience through cast performance alone. Found myself genuinely caring about what happened to the sisters in their bleak lives. Up there with 'The Road' as far as I'm concerned, plus a lot lot better than the Hollywood garbage I've raked through recently.

compelling filming & story... but sort of deja vu after having seen The Way Home

the story of 2 sisters jin & bin who are sent 2 live with their alkie aunt while their mom goes to search for their missing dad, kinda slow.

It was great movie. Their Mother should of came back for them though.

I give it stars! Very Good tale!