Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Broker Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 28, 2023

Writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda is an exceptionally talented filmmaker who’s been on a streak of involving dramas over the last decade, mostly recently on view in 2018’s “Shoplifters” and 2019’s “The Truth,” which offered him a chance to make a French endeavor, changing things up from his usual interests. With “Broker,” Kore-eda is back in South Korea, examining the inner lives and relationships of characters involved in the business of selling babies. This is no horror story, adding to the helmer’s preference for humanist dramas, taking time to understand the mindset of those contributing to such a situation, exploring the complexity of such a choice. There are layers to examine with “Broker,” and wonderful moviemaking to help with the journey, as Kore-eda oversees excellent performances and an approachable level of melancholy with this feature, which remains gripping, even when it deals with simple matters of the heart.

Late one night, teenager So-young (Lee Ji-eun) drops her newborn boy off at a church baby box, trying to clear some confusion from her life. Sang- hyeon (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) are there to collect the contents, with the dry cleaners making money as baby brokers, selling children to those in need. Shadowing their moves is cop Soo-jin (Bae Doona), who’s waiting to observe a sale before she makes her arrests, and returning to the situation is So-young, who deals with some regret about her situation, asking to join the men as they organize a business plan, meeting with potential buyers. Sang-heyon is saddled with large gambling debts, hoping to make a major payday, while Dong-soo has experienced the life of an orphan, inspiring his protective care of the child. While the men figure out their next moves, the plan is complicated by the discovery of a dead gangster in the city, with So-young connected to the crime scene.

While it has the ingredients to become one, “Broker” is not a thriller. It’s a more peaceful journey about a potentially disastrous situation (a few of them, really), with the tale beginning with So-young’s experience with the baby box. It’s a heated cube where infants can be dropped off, but the teen can only place the child on the ground, putting Soo-jin to work as she completes the delivery, which places the newborn in the hands of Sang- hyeon and Dong-soo. The twosome has a system for this situation, deleting evidence and returning to their shop, preparing to complete a transaction, allowing a couple a shot at parenthood via a black-market sale. It reads ghoulish, but “Broker” takes time to understand the situation from different POVs, including So-young, who left a note on the baby, named Woo-sung, claiming she would return to his life one day.

When So-young contacts the dry cleaners, she’s handed a story about “benevolence” as these kids are sold, but Sang-hyeon has his own reasons for such a business, dealing with dangerous people looking for repayment. “Broker” starts to take shape as a family drama, only here, the relationships aren’t bound by blood, they form through empathy. A road trip breaks out as a meeting place is picked, and the foursome makes five with Hae-jin, a young orphanage escapee who joins the ride, with Dong-soo’s experience in the system weighing heavily on his decisions. “Broker” explores the community dynamic, but Soo-jin is also present, dealing with highly personal feelings involving baby trafficking. Kore-eda juggles these experiences with care, balancing the sensitivity of the central quest with a developing mystery involving the dead body and So-young’s involvement with the crime, creating interest in her personal history, which she keeps tightly guarded.

Broker Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation offers a satisfactory level of detail, with facial particulars most pronounced, examining differences in age. Urban tours retain a level of texture with building exteriors and decorative additions. Cityscapes and rural travel preserve deep distances, showing off the bigness of the locations and all the architectural offerings found along the way. Costuming is fibrous, including softer baby gear and thicker business attire. Color is alert throughout the viewing experience, doing well with signage and clothing, which offer a brighter sense of primaries. Warmer moods are set with interiors, and a fresher sense of outdoor events, with distinct greenery. Skin tones are natural. Delineation is acceptable, with blacks reasonably controlled, losing a little information during evening sequences. Mild banding is periodically encountered.

Broker Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix deals with the gentle ways of "Broker," offering crisp instrumentation with scoring cues, which provide a warmer sound to support the feature's emotional moods. Dialogue exchanges are distinct, securing clear conversations and delicate confessions. Surrounds are active, exploring atmospherics with changing weather and community bustle, also capturing a sense of the open world with outdoor events. Music offerings push out as well, with decent immersion. Low-end isn't challenged with the largely dialogue-driven picture.

Broker Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this release.

Broker Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Broker" doesn't build to a big showdown, electing to deal with individual interests in the sale carefully, with Kore-eda peeling back layers of motivation and emotional investment while pulling the main characters together as a type of family the members have rarely experienced. It's a delicate picture dealing with some potentially bruising acts of crime and punishment, and while some degree of police procedure seeps into the endeavor, "Broker" doesn't give itself over to expected areas of hysteria. Kore-eda doesn't follow the easy path to a resolution, preferring to stick with human responses to mistakes and fears, especially with So-young, who wrestles with a decision she regrets in some ways, miraculously finding others who understand her confusion, creating unusual bonds in a feature that does wonderfully with subtle acts of compassion.