I didn’t know much about Treeless Mountain. My friend and I were looking for a movie to attend and were in the mood for something different. Amid the usual and typical fare was an obscure piece from South Korea. Being a lover of most things subtitled me and my friend entered the theater. It was both thrilling yet discouraging that we were the only two folks in the theater.

Anyway, Treeless Mountain is a story about two sisters named Jin (Hee Yeon Kim) and Bin (Song Hee Kim). They lead a typical life being raised by their mom (Soo Ah Lee) and going to school. One day, Jin comes home to find Mom and Bin cleaning out the apartment. Mom breaks the news that things are not going well financially so Jin and her little sister will have to stay with their aunt (Mi Hyang Kim) while Mom tries to rangle funds from her deadbeat husband.

Mom leaves a plastic red piggy bank with the girls and promises to return on the day the bank is filled with money. Mom then leaves on the bus to who knows where while the girls are left behind with a relative they hardly know and in a town they are unfamiliar with.

Rather then sit by and let fate walk all over them the sisters take matters into their own hands by saving the allowance from their aunt and selling fried grasshoppers on the side. The sooner the pig is fattened up the sooner mom will return.

Or so they believe and that’s the bittersweet taste of Treeless Mountain. I couldn’t help but watch these two little girls and hope along with them that their business efforts would magically reunite them with their mother. Making the wait even more unbearable is the half hearted care they receive from their “Big Aunt”. The woman isn’t entirely evil. She gives the kids shelter and food as long as she’s not passed out on booze. It’s obvious, though, that the woman has no intention of being a mother and longs to have only one mouth to worry about feeding.

The bigger issue is the plight of some families where the parent can’t take of his or her children and the young ones end up being cared for by older relatives. Yeah, I know stuff happens and there isn’t much choice. Family is family and blood sticks together. But I’m talking about those irresponsible adults that just dump their kids on the nearest doorstep so they can lead the single life they long for. It irritates me to see stories about men and women preparing for retirement just to get sucked into parenthood. I don’t think the mother in this movie had that motive but I couldn’t help but think that maybe there was another way for Mom to take care of her two daughters without having to leave them like that.

The two girls will charm the pants off you. Jin is a pint sized jar of nerve and determination. She has no problem speaking her mind to adults and is aware enough to see through the smokescreens her guardians use to sugarcoat the severity of the situation.

Bin fulfills the role of the younger sibling like a pro; very trusting, very naïve, and constantly neglected by her older sister. But Bin also displays some ingenuity of her own when she informs Jin about a boy selling fried grasshoppers. That inspires Jin to go into the insect snack business to raise funds for mom’s return. Bin also seems to be the most stylish of the two since she is rarely seen without her blue princess dress that amazingly endures throughout the entire film.

Treeless Mountain is a simple story about two siblings making the best of their situation. They laugh, they cry, they get depressed and they hope for the best in the most hopeless situations. I left the theater kinda jarred by the abrupt ending but also hoping that the girls would blossom and mature in the home their mother ultimately finds for them.

Let’s face it, we all got a piggy bank that we fill with our smiles and tears, dreams and fears, with the hope that our aspiration will come true. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. But like Jin and Bin the best we can do is keep moving forward whether the little piggy bears bacon or not.