(2001)

review by:

12-19-03

Written by: Kikumi Yamagishi Directed by: Takashi Miike Starring: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuaka, Shinji Takeda

A slightly dysfunctional family opens a guest house in the country. Their shared dream begins to crumble, though, when their first few guests keep turning up dead in the morning. They must bury the bodies to protect the reputation of their guest house, with musical results. I first rented this based solely on a still in Fangoria. It was a claymation scene of a little fairy-thing pulling on a girl's uvula, a scene which takes place about a minute into the movie and appears to have nothing to do with the rest of the story (most of which is live action). Having pretty much blindly rented Happiness of the Katakuris, I was surprised by just how great this black-comedy/musical/drama is. Where can one see a deranged life cycle, dancing corpses, flying naval officers, and families breaking into song over dead bodies? Not many places. Happiness of the Katakuris takes an interesting story with great actors and throws it in a blender with musical numbers, animation, and some of the funniest and most random images I've ever seen. It's not only a great story, but it makes the viewer laugh as it creeps him out a bit. Takashi Miike, the director behind Audition and Ichi the Killer brings his token blend of imagination, randomness, and subtle disturbing air to a great script loosely based on Quiet Family, a Korean black comedy. He may dress like an aging American rapper, but he knows a lot about Japanese filmmaking. The cast is great all around, from Tetsuro Tamba's loveable Grandpa Katakuri to Takeda's rebellious ex-con Masayuki. And we couldn't help but chuckle every time Kiyoshiro Imawano appeared as the strangely Japanese-looking son of Queen Elizabeth. Happiness of the Katakuris is really just a great film. It's fun to watch and fun to talk about. Everyone I've shown it to has loved it, and it's they who have pushed me to finally write this review. If you like musicals, enjoy claymation, and/or have a slightly strange sense of humor, this is definitely the film for you.

AKA: The Nightmare Before Checkout          Guest Died Story

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