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Treeless Mountain

Play trailer Poster for Treeless Mountain Released Apr 22, 2009 1h 29m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 63 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
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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Treeless Mountain

Treeless Mountain

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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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Critics Reviews

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Tom Charity The 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Camero W 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. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/24 Full Review 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 Read all reviews
Treeless Mountain

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Cast & Crew

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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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Treeless Mountain

(L-R) Song Hee Kim as Bin and Hee Yeon Kim as Jin in "Treeless Mountain." (L-R) Song Hee Kim as Bin and Hee Yeon Kim as Jin in "Treeless Mountain." (Front) Song Hee Kim as Bin and (Middle) Hee Yeon Kim as Jin in "Treeless Mountain." View more photos

Movie Info

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
Producer
Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So-yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
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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