“Didn’t know what to expect, and what a surprise! Motherhood reduced (or magnified) to its most intense emotional challenges. Yet not done with muddled screenwriter psychology but a gripping murder mystery. I’ll bet money Hollywood remakes this in 2 years. Great performances, beautifully shot, ably directed. This young filmmaker is going places.”

“A mother’s love, can anything compete with it? Good scenery and good music. Needs some editing.”

“Where did she get the $? A little too long!”

“Brilliant! And this didn’t make the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film?”

“A Mother’s love is obsessive, and for a son barely unable to care for himself, totally obsessive. Wonderful portrait, great story, superbly shot and directed.”

“I’m enveloped in sadness. She was a great actress!”

“Looks like cell phones will play a prominent role in films these days! (Ed note: This refers back to THE EXPLODING GIRL, screened the previous week.) This was tough, but fascinating. Where did they find that mother? She was amazing! Another RASHOMON type film that leaves you really pondering.”

“Maybe the best directed film we’ve seen this year, and that includes some of the best including WHITE RIBBON and AN EDUCATION.”

“She was a good sleuth, but so uncouth!”

“Unusual film. Good story with an accurate portrayal of a developmentally disabled adult.”

“And I thought I was a devoted mother!”

“The scene with the spilled water in Jins house and the funeral scene kept surprising me. The mother was quite a powerful figure who was willing to do anything to protect her son. $ $ $ ? I would love to know where it came from, but it really doesn’t make a difference. Loved the opening of her dancing in the field repeated after the junk man is killed. You now get a context for the dance.”

“Scenes that rivaled Hitchcock in their tension, and what a performance by the lead actress!

“The son had beautiful eyes before he was given poison at age 5. Then I believe he became retarded and the mother was very protective and felt guilty so she had this strong bond with him.”

“It was a mystery well done at that!”

“Too long. It could use tighter editing.”

“Fascinating character studies by everyone, the Mother of course, but the son, his friend, the marginally effective handling of the crimes by the police detectives, the sad tale of the young girl who is killed, - what a rich, mesmerizing film!

“What a beautiful actress the mother was.”

“There’s nothing like a mother’s love and this mother’s love was both obsessive and unconditional. This film was long, but the story was compelling. The actress who played the mother was superb. She gave it her all. The actor who played her son was excellent as well.”

“A tension filled exploration of the journey of a mother’s love to take care of her son. A very emotion-filled film. Most moving scene was the sanitarium scene. Slow beginning, but worth watching.”

“Culturally complex cinema.”

“OK - subtitles finally done right!”

“Beautiful acting and music.”

“Moma Mia!”

“Good that not all the loose ends were explained, such as the money. She is obsessed with taking care of her son, and would do anything to find, get, steal the money.”

“Gripping story and a heart wrenching situation.”

“Evocative, moody and fascinating picture. How far will a mother go to protect her son? I can’t think of the movie title from years ago where Jack Lemmon searches for his missing daughter and will fight every bit of bureaucracy

to get his daughter back. (Ed note: The film is MISSING by Costa-Gavras.) That’s a parent! The food sex scene made me hungry!”