The Kang family buys a lodge in a remote hiking area where they start to run a business, problem though is that no one seems to wanna spend the night at their cozy lodge. Eventually a customer comes along, but is found dead in his room the next morning. To avoid bad publicity, the Kang's decide it's better to just bury the body out in the woods and never speak about it again. It all goes well until the next couple of guests also ends up dead, and when more and more bodies start piling up, the family has to come up with new ways to deal with the different situations.
Written and directed by Ji-woon Kim, the same guy who later delivered the brilliant horror A Tale Of Two Sisters and the excellent crime/revenge flick A Bittersweet Life; The Quiet Family might not be in the same class as the two previously mentioned films, but is still one helluva cool black comedy. In 2001, director Takashi Miike did a remake of the film which he named The Happiness of the Katakuris that still had the same very foundation as The Quiet Family had, but that instead became a musical of sorts. The humour in this film is sometimes extremely dark and bizarre, something that you don't see every day, so all the more reason why you'd wanna check this one out.
This was Ji-woon Kim's filmmaking debut and it deals with a slightly bizarre story about a dysfunctional family that are brought closer together due to the deaths that occur all around them. They share some horrible secrets and as the movie rolls along, things just keeps getting worse, more things become messed up and the problems keep piling up.. and so does the bodies. The story is about the Kang family, a family that has moved from Seoul to an isolated mountain lodge called Misty Lodge where they are trying to run a hotel-like kind of business. They're off to a slow start, actually an extremely slow start since there are only a few people passing by their lodge, but no one seems to wanna spend the night there. Eventually a guy comes along and asks for a room and the family couldn't be more happy, because now they're finally in business. Well, the happiness does not last for long when they the next morning discover that their precious guest have commited suicide. Since they're afraid that this unfortunate incident will damage their business if word comes out, they decide to bury the man in the woods instead of calling the police.
 
With the body out of the way, the family is back to their normal routine and at first it seems like they have nothing to worry about. A young couple shows up and wants a room for the night, but after a passionate night of lovemaking, the couple commit suicide as well. This is of course a pretty horrible situation for the Kang's, but since they buried the first victim, the might as well bury these two. Needless to say, things just keep getting worse and the Kang's are up to their neck in trouble in no-time.
In The Quiet Family, the topic of death is always present and even though things may seem a little dark at times, it's all done with some really good black humour. It's a very nice family that the film deals with and you kinda feel sorry for them even though they eventually take things way too far, and that's what's so great about this film, nothing is never ever really simple. Another thing that makes this movie stand out is the character development which is pretty much great, and as the film moves along, you get to know the character pretty darn well and can therefore have a genuine feel for them. The acting is very good and Kang-ho Song kinda reprised his role in The Host playing the dumb brother (and father) again. It may not be 'laugh-out-loud' funny, but The Quiet Family will most definitely put a smile on your face.
The Quiet Family is a clever comedy that has an intriguing story to tell about life, death, weird customers and an even weirder family. Recommended to those who wanna see something smart and different for a change.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Choyonghan kajok
MOVIE YEAR: 1998
DIRECTOR: Ji-woon Kim
WRITING CREDITS: Ji-woon Kim
GENRE: Comedy, Horror
CAST: In-hwan Park, Mun-hee Na, Kang-ho Song
COUNTRY: South Korea
RUNTIME: 101 min
RATING: 7/10
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Quiet Family, The Trailer
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