It's called a baby box, or baby hatch – a hole in the wall where the hatch can be opened, and a baby placed inside an insulated and heated capsule.
An alert will be sounded, and carers will come for the child. A modern equivalent to the old foundling wheel, baby boxes are often situated outside a hospital or church. This will sound horrifying to some; indeed, many lands have laws that do not allow for such a thing to exist but in countries where baby boxes are operated, the use of them is growing.
On a cold, rainy night, a young Korean woman places her infant in such a baby box and two men come and erase the footage of the baby being placed in the baby box and take it home. All of this observed by two female police officers who continue their surveillance.
The next day, the mother comes back for her baby.
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda has a light touch with material that could have easily been overwrought. All of these characters mentioned above have a past that is only gradually revealed to each other through the course of the movie. A road trip ensues, and a makeshift family is born, here is a tragic tale about people who have very limited options and know it, and yet somehow are able to take comfort in the company of each other if only for a little while.
The pacing is not hurried and sometimes maybe it could be sped up, but Hirokazu is interested in the little moments, laughs and heartbreak found in the cracks of time where nothing is said. You have to slow down and feel the quiet to let those moments hit, and hit they do.
The cinematography is not flashy, instead going for a grounded approach. Lots of limited perspective to put you in the place of the characters, observation of moving through city streets without resorting to handheld which could prove distracting. The cast is stellar, moving deftly between amusing moments to heartbreak led by Song Kang-ho coming hot off the Oscar winning ‘Parasite’. ‘Broker’ deals with big, heartbreaking issues but through the characters it places front and centre. This is not just about a young woman who may not have any good choices but about everyone who is scarred by loss and how you can choose to live with it.
When a drone shot comes well into the film and pans up to the skies it is subtle but noticeable for underlining a moment. Hirokazu does not yell but he gets his point across.
