The Bronze Mirror is a Korean fable telling the story of villagers who do not know what a mirror is, and instead see their desires and fears in its reflection. The object itself is unique in the story, in that the prop itself is the focus of the film and serves to drive the plot forward. When the "father" villager first discovers the bronze mirror, he confuses his reflection for another person, and after he picking it up, again confuses his reflection as a form of magical spirit that is communicating to him. Each character is given time to examine their reflection which they mistake as their desires and fears, with the exception of the "grandmother" villager who simply see her reflection as a happy old woman. The “grandmother” villager's contentness plainly describes her reflection, emphasizing the meaning of the fable; a mirror only describes objective reality, but people often see what they want to see.

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The establishing scene where the bronze noble woman touches her face and examines her reflection sets up the premise of the film. This is a subtle reference to the red spot technique, or mirror test, which is a psychological test exploring the ability of visual self-recognition. Here, contrasting shots are displayed of a close up of the noble woman’s reflection in the mirror, followed by a close up of the woman’s face itself. These contrasting shots show the viewer that she is able to recognise her own reflection.

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Later, the characters are allowed time to examine themselves by looking at the mirror in a drawer. However, this scene only shows the reflection of the wooden characters in a reverse shot. This is used to show the viewer that while they see their reflection, they are not self-aware. Each character sees their awwreflection but begins to talk about their internal state to the prop. The object of the bronze mirror is responsible for displaying the characters' motivations. Instead of being used as a prop for the characters to interact with each other, the family decides to throw the mirror away. The characters are thereafter not able to reflect and blame their problems on the objects around them.

The final scene only serves as a bookend with the magistrate being threatened with the loss of his position, as he decides to destroy the mirror. The mirror serves to reflect what is it shown, but people are rarely able to reflect on unpleasant truths about themselves.