Two siblings, a successful but unprincipled lawyer (Sul Kyung-gu) and his conscientious pediatrician brother (Jang Dong-gun), lead prosperous lives and get along well despite their divergent moral beliefs. But things come to a head during one of their regular monthly dinners with their wives, where they learn of a disturbing situation involving both their teenage kids. As the consequences of this dreadful discovery spiral out of control, the families are confronted with an unimaginable choice. Adapted from Dutch author Herman Koch’s controversial bestselling novel The Dinner, A Normal Family transposes the story action to the cultural specifics of present-day South Korea, but maintains the original’s darkly suspenseful core. No stranger to thorny material, having helmed a 2012 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, Korean director Hur Jin-ho directs this drama of privilege and moral decay with clockwork precision. Tense and absorbing, this thriller puts a sinister, unforgettable twist on the notion that blood ties are the ties that bind.
Supported by
Community Partner
Sul Kyung-gu, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Hee-ae, Claudia Kim
South Korea
2023
Special Presentations
In Korean with English subtitles
Violence
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Kim Won-kuk
Cinematography
Go Rak-sun
Editor
Kim Hyung-joo
Production Design
Mo so-ra
Original Music
Cho Sung-woo
Director
Hur Jin-ho
In 1993, Hur Jin-ho’s first short film premiered at VIFF. His feature debut followed five years later: Christmas In August which won many best director awards. Since then, he has produced a distinctive brand: “Hur Jin-ho’s romance”. Love is his favourite theme. With a record of 5.6M admissions for The Last Princess in 2016, he became a director with box office credibility.
Filmography: Christmas In August (1998); A Good Rain Knows (2009); Dangerous Liaisons (2012); The Last Princess (2016); Forbidden Dream (2019)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Sentimental Value
A once-revered director crashes back into his family’s lives, eager to recruit his daughter for a film role. When she declines, he finds a new muse in an eager but unpolished Hollywood star, sending his botched reconciliation spiraling into chaos.
The Ice Tower
In Lucile Hadžihalilović's spellbinding fantasy drama, an orphan (Clara Pacini) becomes enthralled by a movie star (Marion Cotillard) playing the Snow Queen in a fairy tale film adaptation. Winner of the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
La Grazia
A contemplative, mournful but richly imagined movie about a retiring Italian President (Toni Servillo from The Great Beauty) facing two thorny ethical decisions that may define his legacy.
Image: © Andrea Pirrello
Innocence
Lucile Hadžihalilović's first feature is a suggestive, subversive fairy tale set in a private school for young girls, the kind of film David Lynch might have made, if he'd been born a French woman in the early 1960s.
Where to Land
Hal Hartley's first new film in a decade is a melancholy farce about mortality and what we'll call "late middle-age". Bill Sage is a semi-retired filmmaker who isn't dying faster than the rest of us but who behaves like he might be.
La venue de l'avenir
Four cousins are tapped to investigate an abandoned house that is their joint inheritance. As they explore, they learn their story of their ancestor Adele (Suzanne Lindon) and her foray into Paris in the age of Impressionism.