77.Sin of a Family

Sin of a Family (2010): An above average korean mystery drama.

Language: Korean

Genre: Crime - Mystery - Drama

Director: Byeong-jin Min

Writer: Byeong-jin Min

Stars: Wang Hee-ji, Ki-woo Lee, Young Hak No

Sin of a Family” is a dark detective mystery revolving around the tragic death of a child and the possible involvement of his family in the crime.

Detective Cho (Shin Hyeon-joon) is incompetent and always fails to be promoted. One day he lands himself a big case after the body of a murdered young boy is found in the woods, and along with his partner Lee (Lee Ki Woo) he sets about investigating the family. The more they learn about the case, the more they come to suspect that the poverty-stricken father of the dead child is their killer. But the case goes off course when the two begin to sympathize with him. As more details come to light about the family’s unfortunate situation, Cho is forced into some difficult moral decisions, re-evaluating his life and his relationship with his own wayward son in the process.

Despite its stern subject matter, “Sin of a Family” starts off surprisingly funny and fast moving. Whereas most other Korean child murder dramas are relentlessly depressing and moody affairs, for its first hour or so the film has a markedly energetic air. There’s also a fair amount of comedy in the first half.

The Director has spend a lot of time in boosting out Cho as a character and his developing bond with his son, and this is actually one of the film’s strongest aspects, the performance from Shin Hyun Jun was an highlight for this.

Through this, and its various other relationships, the film tackles some impressively tough moral questions, and whilst it does get a little melodramatic towards the end it has a powerful sense of social justice that sits well with its increasingly intimate feel.

As a result, “Sin of a Family” holds the interest both as a mystery and as a very human slice of bleak, though thankfully not needlessly depressing or heavy handed drama.