re:mote voices

Title: The Quiet Family
Cast: In-hwan Park, Mun-hee Na, Kang-ho Song, Min-sik Choi, Ho-kyung Go, Yun-seong Lee
Director: Ji-woon Kim

The Quiet Family are a family who have taken the decision to move from the hectic life of the big city to the quiet life of the country. Opening a hostel in prime hill walking country, an area where a new road is about to be built. The whole thing is a great business move. Except the road has been delayed and they have no customers. When a lone traveller turns up one day looking for a room, they think their luck has finally come in! Unfortunately he is dead by morning and things just spiral downward from there.

The Quiet Family is balancing act, part black comedy and part creepy horror. Given that it is directed by Ji-woon Kim, who's A Tale Of Two Sisters featured in the 2004 Asia Extreme season. The two have some similarities, the large house in the country, the isolation that results and a certain atmosphere. But this earlier effort does have a comedic undertone that something like Two Sister didn't, at least not intentionally.

Ironically The Quiet Family influenced the more widely shown The Happiness of the Katikuras. Takashi Miike's Japanese remake of the film showing around the same time as A Tale Of Two Sisters - though it was made three years after 1998's Korean original. Between the two Katikuras is over the top and a little out there, but one would expect that from Miike, who is prone to being more "challenging" than Ji-woon Kim.

The Quiet Family is a quiet black comedy, currently available as a 2 DVD edition, with card slipcase and an array of extras.


NOTE: For those in the UK reading this - Ji-woon Kim's new film A Bittersweet Life is currently showing in selected cinemas, a Korean revenge drama for fans of Old Boy. More on A Bittersweet Life shortly.