I first saw The Happiness of the Katakuris at Frightfest in London, back in 2002. It's fair to say I wasn't quite so gobsmacked on this viewing, but that's mainly because I knew what to expect the second time around. I was still grinning like a fool for the duration of this feel-good surrealist horror musical pastiche - a berth it doesn't share with too many other bedfellows.It takes a lot for me to enjoy a musical of any kind. I hate musicals with a passion, but here it just works. It's full of imaginative whimsy and distinctively Miikean touches (with a nod to Jan Svankmajer) - like the opening sequence with the small fellow being forked out of a bowl of soup and stealing the diner's uvula - inspired! In a nutshell, Katakuris is about a family's quest to find happiness in their new life together and the struggle to attract guests to their idyllic, but remote guesthouse in the lea of a volcano. The few guests who do manage to find the place are invariably dysfunctional and have a hard time making it through the night.
This is a slight film for Miike, a comedy farce essentially, but a uniquely enjoyable one nonetheless. He also hits on an ingenious way to save money on expensive special effects - cut to clay!
カタクリ家の幸福
Dir. Takashi Miike, 2001
Really? Singing in the Rain? High Society? South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut? Mary Poppins?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe it.
Believe.
ReplyDeleteWell OK, South Park maybe. But even the musical bits in Family Guy really grind my gears.
ReplyDeleteI lent my copy to my former Japanese teacher Rie. She still has it.
ReplyDeleteHey Dan. Good to hear from ya. Still learning Japanese? I stopped a few years ago myself but still harbour vague notions of picking it up again some time...
ReplyDelete