This moving tale of abandonment and the resilience of children arrives in the UK with a string of festival awards and much critical praise, establishing Korean American director So Yong Kim as a promising new voice in independent cinema.
The film opens with a series of domestic scenes and charged close-ups revealing the world of two young girls, Jin and Bin, as they go to school and play at the home they share with their mother. One day, she departs to seek a reconciliation with their absent father, leaving them in the care of an cranky aunt they barely know, but promising to return when their piggy bank is full of coins.
Effectively capturing both the point of view and the sensibilities of the two children, Treeless Mountain is a beautifully nuanced human drama with natural performances from its young leads.