Hear her roar

As a film location, Winnipeg has subbed for everywhere from turn-of-the-century New York City (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) to rural Kansas (Capote).

Winnipeg rarely plays itself, and even more rarely is employed in a fish-out-of-water comedy. (The only one that comes to mind is the locally produced 1989 comedy Mob Story, in which John Vernon played a New York mobster hiding out in wintry Winnipeg, wisely reasoning that no one in their right mind would seek him out there.)

Chinese-Canadian director Johnny Ma rises to that challenge with The Mother and the Bear, which kicks off with 26-year-old Sumi (Leere Park) suffering a typical accident on Winnipeg’s icy streets, slipping and knocking herself out cold after a mysterious encounter with a growling creature lurking in an Exchange District alley.

Even in that one scene, Sumi’s mother Sara (Kim Ho-jung) has made her presence known all the way from Seoul, Korea, leaving Sumi a series of ever-more-urgent messages to connect.

Sara promptly flies halfway around the world to come to her daughter’s side, only to learn Sumi has been put in a medically induced coma by her conscientious doctor, Jennie (Samantha Kendrick).

Stuck in Winnipeg with time on her hands, Sara navigates Winnipeggy challenges — such as how to remove a ton of snow from your car — and learns what she can from her daughter’s social media.

Fearing for the girl’s apparently husbandless future, Sara hits on the idea of employing a dating app to connect her with a nice young professional, preferably Korean. After Sara herself faints in a convenience store, she is rescued by a worthy contender, gallant Korean-speaking Min (Jonathan Kim).

When Sara meets Min’s father Sam (Won-Jae Lee), the two conspire to match Sumi and Min, though Min is already in a relationship with the aforementioned Dr. Jennie. But since Sam himself is single — his wife left Winnipeg to return to Korea — a spark is struck between the two.

The character of Sara is modelled on the Korean archetype of the “Ajumma,” a middle-aged lady who may be nosy or downright meddlesome in family affairs. While Sara fits nicely into that cliché, writer-director Ma is interested in shattering that particular paradigm, and he has a worthy partner in leading lady Kim.

Possessed of a lovely comic eccentricity, the Korean actress is a consistent delight on this journey to the realization that maybe the woman who needs rescuing is herself.

The Mother and the Bear is a Chilean-Canada co-production, which may explain the presence of Peruvian-Chilean cinematographer Inti Briones; it’s a welcome presence. Winnipeg can look pretty bleak on film, but Briones, outsider though he may be, proves adept in finding the visual magic of this godforsaken place.

winnipegfreepress.com/randallking