Review of Quiet Family, The

Introduction

Hotels rarely make for pleasant viewing material on film or in television. They either turn out to be the setting for something nefarious, or those running the hotel are the sorts of people that you would seek to avoid. While we in the UK have gotten away with minor injuries and trauma from Basil Fawlty`s Fawlty Towers, the US has a far worse time of it at the Bates motel in the Psycho movies. Perhaps the worst trauma inflicted on audiences has been at The Hotel New Hampshire, but the less said about that the better. From Korea comes The Quiet Family, a family who open a hotel that makes the Michelin Guide to places to avoid as if your life depended on it.

The Kang family move to the country to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and open a lodge in the mountains. It`s a haven of peace and quiet, set in beautiful countryside but rarely frequented by visitors, although a planned road promises an influx of guests. Unfortunately, the first guest that they eventually get turns out to be suicidal. They are shocked to find a body the next morning, and rather than call the police, they choose to preserve the reputation of their hotel and bury the corpse in the forest instead. It`s not their fault that their next guests are a couple who have made a suicide pact, and when burying these new bodies and then finding out that one of them hasn`t been entirely successful in his attempt, it`s just really doing him a favour to help him on his way. With a new road aimed at their makeshift burial ground, and a secret to preserve, they find that the old adage is true, that a family that slays together stays together.

Video

The Quiet Family is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. The image has all the indications of a NTSC to PAL transfer, with the soft picture and low resolution associated with such. There is a little print damage and flicker, though more evident is some ghosting. Darker scenes lack detail and brighter areas seem over saturated. Fine detail is lacking too. It isn`t a stellar transfer, but ultimately doesn`t detract from the viewing experience.

Audio

You get a choice of several soundtracks with this film, DD 5.1 Korean and English, as well as DD 2.0 mono Korean, English and Cantonese. I listened to the Korean surround track, and found the dialogue clear and the action fairly front focused. There is a hint of ambience, but the rears aren`t really called on to convey a great deal of action. The dubs were equally clear, but it did feel as if the dialogue was recorded over the top, rather than being part of the film. The music is sparse, but there are some excellent tunes chosen to accompany the film, including the Partridge Family`s I Think I Love You. I quite like the subtitles used in the film, you get a choice of English and Chinese, and the font fades in and out, rather than merely flashing on screen. The font is legible throughout, and there is only the rare grammatical or spelling error, as the subtitles follow the English dub closely. The same can`t be said for the extras however.

Features

The two discs come in a dual Amaray, packaged inside a cardboard slipcase. There is also a sheet of production notes inside the case. The animated menus feature scenes from the film set to a hip-hop soundtrack.

Disc 1`s sole extra is the audio commentary from Director Kim Ji-woon, and actor Song Kang-ho. Naturally this is in Korean, but there are English subtitles. Unlike the film, the commentary`s subtitles are riddled with errors and odd translations. There are periods when the commentators speak and the captions don`t change, and the occasional caption is truncated by the edges of the screen. It is a jovial commentary, and there is information of worth to be gleaned from it. It`s just that the subtitles make it a thankless task for a non-Korean speaker.

The bulk of the extras are on Disc 2.

There are seven trailers on this disc, including the original theatrical and the Tai Seng trailers for The Quiet Family. Other films advertised include, Escape From Hong Kong Island, Humanist, The Harmonium In My Memory, Colour Of The Truth, and A Bizarre Love Triangle.

In the interviews section, you can see Song Kang-ho and Director Kim Ji-woon discuss the production of the film over 8½ minutes, a separate interview with Song Kang-ho over his acting role in the film lasting 10 minutes, an interview with Go Ho-kyung and Lee Yun-seong who played the sisters in the film also lasting 10 minutes, and finally a 10 minute interview with Choi Min-sik. This was filmed when he was on set on Oldboy, and you can see him in make up for that film.

The Making Of lasts 6 minutes, and is actually more of a look at the production design of the inn in particular, with respect to cinematography and how the design related to the story.

Coming Out is a nice addition to the disc. It`s a short film telling the story of a girl who finds it hard to share her journey of self-discovery with her family, so decides to make a video diary about it. She ends up going to England to pursue her lifestyle. It`s tongue in cheek and pretty funny, although the atrocious subtitle translations add an extra layer of absurdity. It lasts 45 minutes and is presented in 1.66:1 letterbox.

There are two music videos with songs used in the film set to montages of scenes.

There are 4 minutes of storyboard comparisons, with the chance to see key scenes in the film against the original storyboards.

Finally, the Original Soundtrack featurette lasts approximately 6 minutes and features some of the songs used in the film, and the reason for their choice.

All the extras are presented in 4:3 and varying degrees of letterbox, with subtitles burnt in. The subtitles are poorly translated, with spelling, grammatical and syntax errors rife. Most annoying was seeing Director translated as Producer. You do eventually get the gist of what is going on, and the odd translations added an unintentional level of hilarity to Coming Out. It just gives a lack of professionalism to an otherwise well presented package.

Conclusion

The Quiet Family was an enjoyable black comedy, which strays towards the deliciously macabre but never crosses the border into bad taste. There is plenty of humour to be found in the oddly dysfunctional characters and in their situation. The dream of a lucrative business in the mountains quickly turns sour, as guests aren`t initially forthcoming. And while the siblings and their uncle appear to take it in stride, the mother and father are less accepting, with a funny moment when the head of the household takes out his frustrations on the family dog. When a guest finally does appear, the eager family crowd around him as he signs the register.

The family`s woes are just beginning though, as their first guest doesn`t live through the night. They try to keep the death a secret, to avoid tainting their business, but keeping the secret just means the body count mounts, and watching their initial panic at the morbid turn of events is funny enough, but as they become more accustomed to the high fatality rate among their guests, they become more and more blasé about it. It`s inspired casting that makes this film work so well, with Song Kang-ho as the delinquent son delivering many of the laughs. His fight with the man who assaults his sister is hilarious, his utter rage and threatening demeanour is offset by a complete lack of ability to lay a finger on his antagonist, and he even calls for a timeout when trapped in a headlock. The story is told through the eyes of the younger daughter Mina as played by Go Ho-kyung. She brings an ethereal presence, reminiscent of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice, and despite her presence and involvement in the goings on, she maintains an innocence that makes her the ideal narrator. What makes this film so funny is that as a family of murderers, this is perhaps the most inept bunch ever shown.

The film has been compared to The Addams Family and Shallow Grave, but manages to plough its own furrow for the most part. It took me a while to get into the story, and the characters are developed at a leisurely pace, but the film is well worth sticking with, as the story once it gets going is entertaining and original. The presentation of the film on these discs is not outstanding but acceptable, and the choice of extras is a nice accompaniment. The short film Coming Out is an added bonus, and well worth watching in its own right. The extras are let down by some desultory subtitle translations though. Filled with oddball characters, and having a perfectly judged creepy touch, The Quiet Family is a dark comedy that deserves wide appreciation. Those deciding to give it a spin won`t be disappointed.