heir grandparents' farm, it is here that Jin comes to learn the importance of family bonds and self-reliance in this beautiful, meditative, and thought-provoking second feature from So Yong Kim, the acclaimed director of in Between Days.

Review

Simply one of the best films about childhood ever made. --Melissa Anderson, Village Voice

A quiet, poignant drama of abandonment and resilience...an uncanny ability to enlarge your perception of the world. --A.O. Scott, New York Times

Treeless Mountain takes a radically different approach to the deprivations of childhood than Slumdog Millionaire, yet these films from the other side of the world will connect with audiences wherever they are shown. --Tom Charity, CNN

36:T624,"Treeless Mountain" is a beautiful and emotionally affecting film. In the film, two young girls are left in the care of an uncaring aunt so that the mother can supposedly go look for her estranged husband. She tells the girls she will return before too long, but it soon becomes clear (through a letter to the aunt) that she simply is unable to care for the children any more. So the aunt, on the advice of the mother, takes the children to their grandparents farm to stay. The children develop a close bond to the kind grandmother and they start to feel comfortable in their surroundings.The two children, who had never acted before, gave incredibly beautiful performances. Six-year-old Hee Yeon Kim played the role of Jin while four-year-old Song Hee Kim played her younger sister Bin. I found it so easy to fall in love with these two beautiful children. They performed with such a naturalness and softness that they seemed like real sisters. The chemistry was so strong between them. And So Young Kim did a remarkable job as writer and director of the film. Her style of direction put all the focus on the two girls and their circumstances. And even though times were sometimes difficult for the girls, there is such a soft and deli