Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) Katakuri-ke No Kôfuku

Movie Rating R Contains: Violence Sex Mature Situations

Director: Takashi Miike Movie Genre: Comedy, Satire Country: Japan Happiness of the Katakuris Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 9.0 Writing: 9.0 Acting: 7.8 Cinematography: 6.0 Sound and Score: 8.0 Functionality: 8.0 Presentation: 6.8 Genre Comparison: 7.0 General Comparison: 6.0 Overall: 7.5 Reviewed 2006-01-09 01:34:58

Hapiness of the Katakuris is a musical black comedy from Japanese auteur, Takashi Miike. The story is about Masao Katakuri, played by Kenji Sawada, and his dream of opening a guest home in the mountains with his family. Masao buys a house in the middle of nowhere after the townspeople convince him that a main road will soon be built near that location. Since there is no road leading to the guest house, the Katakuris have a difficult time attracting guests. Also, for some strange reason, the few guests they do get have a bad habit of dying before they can check out. Masao and his family attempt to keep the deaths secret as to not scare off more potential guests.

The song and dance numbers in this movie are amazing. There is a karaoke scene midway through the movie that actually has highlighted lyrics so anyone can sing along. There is a love song that is sung by a half-Japanese, half-British naval officer who knows how to fly. Also, the zombie song and dance sequence near the end puts Michael Jackson's Thriller to shame.

Miike's decision to use claymation for all of the special effects scenes was an excellent way to cut corners and stay within the movie's budget. The flow of the movie does not suffer at all when the live action shots suddenly turn to clay for a short period of time. Instead of being disruptive, the use of clay actually enhances the overall entertainment value. Only Miike would and could be able to have a change as drastic as this blend so seamlessly with the rest of the movie.

Happiness of the Katakuris is just as insane and excessive as the majority of Miike's other works. There is a much different type of gratuity displayed in this movie. Instead of the disgusting sex and violence of movies like Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q, Happiness of the Katakuris employs silliness to shock the audience. If you have recently lost touch with your inner-child, this movie will be a reminder of what you have been missing.