Reviewed by Alicia Glass
Director: Iris K. Shim
Rating: 8 Nor-ri-gae
The complex details and history behind the murder of his sister’s boyfriend, committed by Andrew Suh himself, that poses the statement, “Now that you know my story, what would you do?”
Meet Andrew Suh. An obvious jailhouse boy, with his head shaved and his light blue prison uniform with it’s number, he speaks English quite well, and that’s where we start. Andrew talks about how his family emigrated from Korea to America, how his father didn’t speak English well at all and Andrew becoming the family translator, and the tremendous responsibility he felt as a result. And things get progressively worse from there.
The pace of the movie is very good. The witnesses will patter along for a few minutes, and then one of them will drop a bombshell that smoothly leads the storyline into the next segue. Like how Andrew had an older brother who died tragically when they were all very young, and how his next in familial line sister was peripherally blamed for the incident. Father comes down with cancer, is hospitalized alone with only beloved son Andrew by his side, and passes away. Mother takes in laundry and is murdered in the Laundromat is a most horrific fashion, leaving sister Catherine to take over the family with her boyfriend Robert O’Dubaine. Things go on their merry way, tensions mount, and things culminate in murder when Andrew is told, or at least strongly implied-to, that their mother was killed by O’Dubaine. Andrew does manage to get across the feeling of utter betrayal that led to his horrific act and bring the audience to that terrible day.
Not every question is answered, certain things are glossed over or ignored entirely, I think out of respect for the family. The Korean sense of sons-only isn’t brought across a whole lot, but it is mentioned. Sister Catherine isn’t in the film at all, and the reason why only becomes evident at the end – she’s apparently in another state correctional facility, maybe 30 miles from where Andrew is serving a 100-year sentence. Simple shaded drawings that move gently accompany the movie, evoking emotion without all that complicated mess of CGI reenactments. The whole thing reminds me rather of an Asian-style CSI episode, and I happen to love that show. The House of Suh receives a rating of 8 Nor-ri-gae!
Check out the trailer!
Tags: andrew suh, catherine suh, documentary, house of suh, iris k. shim, korea, korean, nor-ri-gae, robert o'dubaine
