死不张扬离奇失魂事件

Body counts are high in Kim Jee-woon’s THE QUIET FAMILY, a black comedy set in a rural lodge for hikers managed by the Kang Family: middle-aged Kang Dae-goo (Park) and his wife Jeong Soon-rye (Na), their three adult children Young-min (Song), Mina (Go) and Mi-soo (Lee Yung-seong), plus Dae-goo’s bachelor younger brother Chang-goo (Choi Min-sik). The sextet’s initial lassitude takes a morbid turn when the first three guests of their lodging business are suicidal-driven head cases.

Branded as a filmmaker with a partiality for horror and violence, in his first feature, Kim demonstrates his sophisticated knack of calibrating a sensible equilibrium between the dreadful (great ambient work from low-ceiling darkness, subdued decoration and an eerie score) and the comical (the golden rule is, however grisly things turn out, the family emanates no premeditated malice). And THE QUIET FAMILY consistently rides on a spine-tingling overtone while knowingly tickles our ribs, many plots are perversely counter to genre tropes, like a valiant brother’s attempt to save his sister being ravished by a horndog, its end result is well within our expectation, but the process is far more whimsical and diverting. That said, any attempt to seek even a tenuous rationale is futile as its genre enjoins that suspended disbelief is a prerequisite.

Courtesy to a rip-roaring cast, which includes two major Korean superstar in their salad days, Song Kang-ho and Choi Min-sik, both establish themselves as cracking comedians with proactive/reactive duality and prompt comical timing. Veteran players Park In-hwan and Na Moon-hee are more adept in deadpanning, whereas two young starlets Go Ho-kyung and Lee Yun-seong simply require to be either pretty or flirtatious.

Theme-wise, Kim marries a strangely amusing vibe of hysteria, that reaches an apt crescendo in the end, where they become “a quiet family”, with a faint political jab in the background (North Korean spies are at large). In the event, it is a wacky gore-fest even for the mildly squeamish, all’s well that end’s well, thankfully.

referential entries: Kim Jee-woon’s THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD (2008, 6.9/10), A BITTER LIFE (2005, 5.4/10).

死不张扬的黑色幽默排山倒海袭来，在每一个哭笑不得的情节中带领观众走向高潮，用昆汀式的音乐严谨而诙谐的吟唱着一个普普通通的家庭面临离奇人生转折时的选择。一切疯狂古怪的行径被隐藏在日常生活的平静之下，在这个与世隔绝的小旅社自成一派社会体系，孤独而又固执的坚守，艰难而又乐观的活着。

本来一家人花尽积蓄在荒山野岭开个旅馆避世也很好，夫妻俩普普通通只想安度晚年，弟弟唯唯诺诺打了一辈子光棍，三个儿女大儿子无能无才，两个女儿初长成人年轻貌美。一家六口伴着一条狗无非日日守株待兔的等着有朋自远方来，不料一个疯婆子的大喊大叫破坏了这片和谐。旅馆先后来个三个客人，却像约好了似的前后自杀，为了毁尸灭迹掩人耳目一家子动智动力前所未有的团结起来。只是心中一旦有鬼，以后的日子是怎么也太平不起来了。

这样剑走偏锋天马行空的剧情虽然有趣，但一不小心就会与逻辑性无缘，好在导演处理的还算到位，将小人物的梦想和现实的荒诞巧妙融合出了无厘头惊悚感，冲淡了死亡带来负面情绪和紧张，更多留下的是对生和活的无限渴望。我们无从猜想那三个来到旅馆自杀的人都经历过了什么，不论他们带给旅馆一家的是运气也好，宿命也罢，生活永远都是一个转不出去的死圈，该回到原点的都会无止境的重复。

宋康昊在片中饰演了一个无能无才的儿子，爱贪小便宜又好色，徒有保护妹妹的心却手无缚鸡之力，嘴上尽是耍横的本事到手上却只能挥舞挖土的铲子，完全颠覆了从前他在我心中严肃纠结强悍的大叔形象。看着这样一张霸道的脸卖萌求饶本身就已极尽搞笑之事，打着打着架还能疼的叫停耍无赖使阴招，这在片中是除了女主人之外最鲜活的一个形象。他的避世情绪来源于自己的无为和无畏，活的透彻干脆。

片中的女主人属于我们熟悉的一类妈妈角色，平时任劳任怨的照顾家里，一旦有事了却又冷静的不像个女人，带着一丝小市民的狡诈和中年妇女的麻木默默成为了家里的精神支柱。她的两个女儿还处于爱情和叛逆的幻想之中，从她们身上可以想象到她年轻时的模样。在死亡面前，似乎一切道德品质都变得透明化，有一分污染都将受到最严重的职责；而在活着面前，死亡就是一个包袱，丢了便丢了，无论是谁的，一闭眼一睁眼还是要去想明天给家里人做什么饭。

本片带着如今我们所熟悉的欧美荒诞风格，却没在悬疑上过多的下功夫，略微拖沓却能慢慢的欣赏一家人心中的小火苗，团坐在一起吃着饭开着挖坑埋尸的玩笑，是外面的社会打破了他们原有的平静，可见这旅馆之外的世界已经荒诞到了何等地步。