MovieChat Forums > Choyonghan kajok (1998) Discussion > Hilarious film! Funnier than a lot of co...

Hilarious film! Funnier than a lot of comedies. Other films like this?


My jaws/cheeks were literally (and I never use this word incorrectly) aching halfway through the film; even when I was not laughing, I was at least smiling. I never thought I'd say something cringeworthy like this but I say it because it is true! I do not think even some of my favourite comedies have made me laugh this hard (not even the excellent The Big Lebowski). I do not remember ever laughing when people are disposing of corpses but here, I was laughing like a maniac. I have added this to my list of favourite Korean films. I think this is one of Kim Jee-Woon's best works.

One thing that makes makes me laugh in any Korean film (comedy or not) is the style of speaking and facial expressions when characters insult or are angry at each other. One example in The Quiet Family is when the uncle and Young-min chase a young couple whilst holding garden tools, and the ensuing dialogue when they catch up with them; the line the uncle says with a hilarious out-of-breath look on his face, "what did you go running off for?" is very funny. Memories of Murder is another Korean film which has tonnes of funny dialogue in it, even though it is a emotionally devestating film at the same time.

I wish The Quiet Family would get more recognition. I have the DVD; where's the blu-ray?

Can you recommend other films like this, where they take the piss out of morbid situations like this?

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Anders Thomas Jensen does some pretty great dark comedy. "The Green Butchers" isn't amazing in my opinion but it's still pretty hilarious and watching "The Quiet Family" definitely made me think of it. That and I love Mads Mikkelsen. Danish films seem to have a lot of completely absurd characters or very reserved ones, you might enjoy them as you say you liked the style of speaking and facial expressions of angry characters in Korean cinema. I'd also recommend "Adam's Apples" for that (and the utterly dark and absurd comedy), definitely one of my favorite movies. "Blinking Lights" also has a decent following but it didn't quite grab me the same way.

I've just recently became acquainted with the great actors and directors of Korean cinema, it was great to see both Kang-ho Song and Min-sik Choi near the beginning of their careers, not to mention with Jee-woon Kim directing. Adam's Apples is like that - with Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas directed by Anders Thomas Jensen.

Oh, and back to Korean - "The Wailing" came out recently. That's one hell of an interesting movie....I found myself laughing quite a bit but also incredibly frustrated - one that deserves a second viewing at least.

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