Release Date (UK) – 8 January 2010
Certificate (UK) – PG
Country – South Korea
Director – So Yong Kim
Runtime – 89 mins
Starring – Hee-yeon Kim, Song-hee Kim Mi-Hyang Kim

Treeless Mountain is a very gentle family drama that stands out for its outstanding performances from its two main child stars. They play two young Korean Sisters Jin (Hee Yeon Kim) and Bin (Song Hee Kim) whom are uprooted by their mother to go and stay with their ‘Big Aunt’ (Mi-Hyang Kim) whilst she goes looking for their absentee father. Neglected by their aunt they struggle to cope without their mother and pine for her return.

The film is very light on plot and simply focuses on the childhood perspectives of the two sisters with lots of handheld camerawork and extreme close ups of their faces. These techniques easily align us with the gentle emotional story form their position and create a lovely film that reminded me of the Japanese 2004 drama Nobody Knows. The two sisters are simply brilliant in the film, convincing and I defy anyone to fall in love with them.

This is out on Friday and is a beautiful uncomplicated film that does have its moments of drama and is both a sad and enjoyable watch. Thoroughly recommended – watch the trailer below to see a clip