Happiness of the Katakuris DVD Review

A young woman, about to enjoy some soup, discovers a small winged creature with big eyes in her bowl. The little chap rips out her uvula and dashes off with it.

The Katakuri family, Grandpa Katakuri (Tetsuro Tamba), father Masao (Kenji Sawada), mother Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka) and their son and daughter, leave the city to run a country hotel, the "White Lover's Inn". The road that was supposed to be built near to them is nowhere in sight, so they are stuck in a place that hardly sees any visitors. When they do get the occasional visitor, through no fault of the Katakuris, they have a nasty habit of dying. To avoid any scandal, they don't tell the police and bury the deceased guests in the nearby woods. Meanwhile, daughter Shizue (Naomi Nishida) a divorced single mother, falls in love with con-artist Richard Sagawa who tells her tales of being a James Bond character, related to the British royal family. The Katakuris struggle on as a family through deaths, zombies, escaped convicts and a volcano.

Takashi Miike, the twisted mind that bought us Audition and Ichi the Killer, is the man behind this seriously strange remake of Ji-woon Kim's wonderful, The Quiet Family. A mix of horror, comedy, musical and existential thingy-whatever... Oh i don't know, it's mental! The family, who are in many ways very ordinary and extremely likeable, have to deal with the most surreal situations, and burst into song and dance routines when you least expect it. Moments like grandpa throwing a stick at a passing bird and the bollywood style dance routine are deliciously ludicrous, and there's even live action turning into claymation on a couple of occasions. The Happiness of the Katakuris is an unique, brilliant and unforgettable film that I urge anyone with a taste for the unusual to see. Miike, you’re a mad man and a genius. S.J.T.

The Happiness of the Katakuris. 2001

Directed by Takashi Miike