Treeless Mountain (2009)

Treeless Mountain was a poignant story about two little girls who were abandoned with relatives and seen through their innocent eyes. This was a spare, melancholy slice of life with little music or dialogue as the sisters learned to navigate their everchanging world.

Grade schooler Jin and her little sister Bin are dropped off at their paternal aunt’s house when their mother goes in search of their missing deadbeat father. As the mother leaves, she hands Jin a red piggy bank and tells her when it is full of coins they earn for doing chores for their aunt, she’ll return. Their aunt who doesn’t work and drinks too much soju does the bare minimum for them and sometimes not even that. The girls often find themselves alone and fending for themselves or asking a neighbor for food. Jin, who was a good student, is no longer enrolled in school. Despite their circumstances the girls stick together and look for ways to earn money to fill their piggybank.

This film eschewed dramatic music for natural sounds or the girls singing. The young actresses gave beautifully genuine, unpretentious performances. They carried the weight of the movie on their tiny shoulders as the story was seen through their eyes. It was agonizing watching Jin slowly piece together the reality of her life after the harsh realization of their situation hit her. Each emotional blow would rock her and she would slowly absorb the new information and try again. Kim Hee Yeon’s eyes told the depth of Jin’s pain. Though the girls were shuttled about, they stayed together and never gave into despair, always making the best of their lives.

Treeless Mountain demonstrated how vulnerable children are and how resilient they can be when they shouldn’t have to be. There were moments that were genuinely heartbreaking as Jin came to realize that adults lie and had let her down repeatedly and others that were filled with hope when she offered all she had to someone in need. This film will cause you to want to show great kindness to any children in your life-to cuddle them and fill their bellies with warm food and shelter them from all danger. Not every child has that security, some sisters live on a treeless mountain with only each other to truly depend on. While this slow meditation on the perils of childhood may not be for everyone, I found it to be deeply moving.

21 May 2024

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Treeless Mountain is a tough film to watch as it is quiet and moves slowly. There is no soundtrack, but the lack of music adds a sense of rawness of the story. However, while the absence of music helps the viewer develop an honest connection to the characters, I think the film also could have benefited from occasional music to increase emotional impact and watchability.

The story is bittersweet and (modestly) powerful, and it left me feeling both hopeful and sad. The best parts of the film are probably the performances of the two little girls. The girls were very natural, making me feel like I was simply observing the children's journey through life. I also loved the cinematography. Some scenes were so beautiful that I can still remember them vividly a few years after seeing the film.

There were so many parts of this film that I loved, but because the slow pacing makes it a little difficult to sit through, I leave an overall rating of 7 ('good').

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