Treeless Mountain

Released Apr 22, 2009

1h 29m

Drama

List

86%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

72%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jin (Kim Hee-yeon) and her younger sister, Bin (Song Hee Kim), are left by their mother (Soo Ah Lee) with Big Aunt (Kim Mi-Hyang). The girls' mother is trying to hunt down their father. She gives them a piggy bank, telling her daughters that when it is full of coins she will return. Big Aunt is an alcoholic who neglects to look after the children. By selling roasted grasshoppers, the two girls manage to take care of themselves over the summer, waiting all the while for their mother's return.

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Critics Consensus

Intermittently wondrous and harsh, this sensitive drama about two abandoned sisters gives time and space to the intimate and beautiful moments of childhood.

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Audience Member

So heartfelt excellent acting loved this movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

truly heartbreaking realism, priceless performance of the two sisters

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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So-yong Kim

Director

Kim Hee-yeon

Jin

Song Hee Kim

Bin

Soo Ah Lee

Mother

Kim Mi-Hyang

Big Aunt

So-yong Kim

Screenwriter

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Tom Charity

Times (UK)

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

Rated: 4/5

Jun 1, 2015

Full Review

Robert Koehler

Variety

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.

Jul 6, 2010

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

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.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 8, 2010

Full Review

Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

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.

Rated: 8/10

Nov 6, 2020

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

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]

Rated: 6/10

Jul 25, 2020

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

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.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 7, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Jin (Kim Hee-yeon) and her younger sister, Bin (Song Hee Kim), are left by their mother (Soo Ah Lee) with Big Aunt (Kim Mi-Hyang). The girls' mother is trying to hunt down their father. She gives them a piggy bank, telling her daughters that when it is full of coins she will return. Big Aunt is an alcoholic who neglects to look after the children. By selling roasted grasshoppers, the two girls manage to take care of themselves over the summer, waiting all the while for their mother's return.

Director: So-yong Kim
Screenwriter: So-yong Kim
Distributor: Oscilloscope Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $60.0K
Runtime: 1h 29m

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