The Crazy Family (1984)
"Gyakufunsha kazoku" (original title)

The Kobayashi family finally get the chance to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment in favour of the suburban house of their dreams. But all is not well: the house is infested by... See full summary »

Director:

Gakuryu Ishii

Writers:

Gakuryu Ishii (screenplay), Norio Kaminami (screenplay),

Stars:

Katsuya Kobayashi, Mitsuko Baishô, Yoshiki Arizono

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katsuya Kobayashi	...	Katsuhiko Kobayashi
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Saeko Kobayashi
Yoshiki Arizono	...	Masaki Kobayashi
Yûki Kudô	...	Erika Kobayashi (as Kudou Yuuki)
Hitoshi Ueki	...	Yasukune Kobayashi
Kazuhiko Kishino
Toyoko Koumi
Akira Ogata
Iwao Hayashizaki
Nobuhiro Gomori
Yoshinori Inoue
Hirona Takahashi
Kunihiro Ide
Alex Ablamov

Storyline

The Kobayashi family finally get the chance to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment in favour of the suburban house of their dreams. But all is not well: the house is infested by termites and the family starts cracking up: Son Masaki is studying so obsessively for his exams that he's losing his mind; daughter Erika is oblivious of all but her forthcoming record company audition, grandfather Yasukuni starts getting World War II flashbacks and father Katsuhiko is so worried about his family's "sickness" that he thinks can only be cured by group suicide...

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | termite | poison | pressure | pyramid | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 February 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Az őrült család

Filming Locations:

Urawa, Saitama, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Theatre Guild, Directors Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The literal translation of the Japanese title is "Back-Firing Family". "Gyakufunsha" means "thrust reversal", but is also used as a slang term for "crazy" or "screwed up."

User Reviews

Outrageous, in a good way.

I first saw this movie before I had ever set foot in Japan, and found it freaky and outrageous. A tour de force of punk values in celluloid. I assumed that much of this impression was due to my unfamiliarity with Japan. Now, after living in Japan from 1987 until 1991, it's still just as outrageous. One of the rare movies that combines freak out visual images with a serious concept. Ishii takes the 'typical' Japanese family by each stereotype in turn, and stretches each to cartoon extremes. Lock all these characters in a house with all the windows and doors nailed shut, and let the climax to this movie slowly build. Recommended for viewers who are decidedly not faint hearted.