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IMDbPro

The Happiness of the Katakuris

Original title: Katakuri-ke no kôfuku
  • 20012001
  • RR
  • 1h 53m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
9.3K
YOUR RATING
The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
A family moves to the country to run a rustic mountain inn when, to their horror, the customers begin befalling sudden and unlikely fates.
Play trailer1:41
1 Video
27 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
A family moves to the country to run a rustic mountain inn when, to their horror, the customers begin befalling sudden and unlikely fates.A family moves to the country to run a rustic mountain inn when, to their horror, the customers begin befalling sudden and unlikely fates.A family moves to the country to run a rustic mountain inn when, to their horror, the customers begin befalling sudden and unlikely fates.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
9.3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Takashi Miike
  • Writers
    • Ai Kennedy(translation)
    • Kikumi Yamagishi(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kenji Sawada
    • Keiko Matsuzaka
    • Shinji Takeda
Top credits
  • Director
    • Takashi Miike
  • Writers
    • Ai Kennedy(translation)
    • Kikumi Yamagishi(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kenji Sawada
    • Keiko Matsuzaka
    • Shinji Takeda
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 85User reviews
    • 89Critic reviews
    • 60Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:41
    Trailer

    Photos27

    The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Kenji Sawada and Shinji Takeda in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Shinji Takeda in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Keiko Matsuzaka, Naomi Nishida, Shinji Takeda, Tetsurô Tanba, and Tamaki Miyazaki in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Kiyoshirô Imawano in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Keiko Matsuzaka, Naomi Nishida, Kenji Sawada, Shinji Takeda, Tetsurô Tanba, and Tamaki Miyazaki in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Ken'ichi Endô in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Keiko Matsuzaka, Naomi Nishida, Kenji Sawada, Tetsurô Tanba, and Tamaki Miyazaki in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Keiko Matsuzaka, Naomi Nishida, Shinji Takeda, Tetsurô Tanba, and Tamaki Miyazaki in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
    Naomi Nishida and Kiyoshirô Imawano in The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kenji Sawada
    Kenji Sawada
    • Masao Katakurias Masao Katakuri
    Keiko Matsuzaka
    • Terue Katakurias Terue Katakuri
    Shinji Takeda
    • Masayuki Katakurias Masayuki Katakuri
    Naomi Nishida
    • Shizue Katakurias Shizue Katakuri
    Kiyoshirô Imawano
    • Richâdo Sagawaas Richâdo Sagawa
    Tetsurô Tanba
    Tetsurô Tanba
    • Grandpa Jinpei Katakurias Grandpa Jinpei Katakuri
    Naoto Takenaka
    Naoto Takenaka
    • TV Reporteras TV Reporter…
    Tamaki Miyazaki
    • Yurie Katakurias Yurie Katakuri
    Takashi Matsuzaki
    • Utanômias Utanômi
    Yoshiki Arizono
    • Father of the poor familyas Father of the poor family
    Chihiro Asakawa
    • Utanômi's girlfriendas Utanômi's girlfriend
    Masahiro Asakawa
    Ken'ichi Endô
    Ken'ichi Endô
    • Kudouas Kudou
    Moeko Ezawa
    • Itakoas Itako
    Mutsumi Fujita
    Akiko Hatakeyama
    Yumeki Kanazawa
    • Sick boyas Sick boy
    Shôken Kunimoto
    • Director
      • Takashi Miike
    • Writers
      • Ai Kennedy(translation)
      • Kikumi Yamagishi(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The plot of this film is loosely based on the Korean film 'The Quiet Family' (1998), which was not a musical.
    • Goofs
      A piece of flying debris gets caught on Richâdo Sagawaw's stunt wire for a few seconds whilst he begins flying in the junk yard musical scene.
    • Quotes

      Richâdo Sagawa: My nose isn't bleeding because I'm horny, the blood is rushing to enhance my critical faculties. And as I have much more blood than a Japanese, it surges uncontrollably.

    • Connections
      Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Horror Musicals (2016)

    User reviews85

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
    Masao Katakuri (Kenji Sawada) has moved his family--his wife, his divorced daughter, her child, his formerly criminal son and his father--to the country, near Mt. Fuji. He purchased a large old home with the intention of converting it into a kind of bed & breakfast, since the road running nearby is supposed to be expanded, which would bring tourists. But the road hasn't been expanded yet and the Katakuris subsequently have no guests. When one finally shows up, mysteriously, he commits suicide during the night. They hide the body to avoid bad publicity. But they seem to be in a patch of bad luck, and more things begin to go wrong. Through it all, however, the family sticks together and sings happy songs.

    Oh how I wanted to give this film a 10! It has so many elements I love. It's an absurdist mix of horror, surrealism, a musical, claymation, a black comedy, and one of those progressively "going to hell in a handbasket" films ala After Hours (1985), Very Bad Things (1998) or My Boss' Daughter (2003). Unfortunately, Happiness of the Katakuris suffers a bit from being unfocused. All of the individual elements are superb, but director Takashi Miike simply abandons too many interesting threads and the film ends up feeling more like a loose collection of skits. If it were tied together better, this would easily be a 10.

    Happiness of the Katakuris, which is a "mutated" remake Ji-woon Kim's Choyonghan kajok (The Quiet Family, 1998), begins with a restaurant scene that ends up being unrelated to the rest of the film. While a woman is eating, a strange creature appears in her soup. This initiates a long sequence of claymation. The creature is a small, skinny, albino, white-eyed "demon" who wakes up from being stabbed in the neck with a fork and proceeds to rip out his would-be-consumer's uvula, which he turns into a heart-shaped balloon. The claymation has a strong Tim Burton feel ala The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and provides a wonderfully surreal and somewhat gory version of a "circle of life", also known as a food chain. At this point I was completely loving the film.

    Oddly, Miike drops this material and we go back to a standard live-action mode as we learn about the Katakuris, initially from narration by toddler Yurie (Tamaki Miyazaki). I kept thinking that the claymation demons would return somehow, but they're forgotten about, even if claymation eventually makes a return later in the film, with a style more reminiscent of Bruce Bickford, who did the claymation in Frank Zappa's Baby Snakes (1979).

    Fortunately, the Katakuris are intriguing in their own right, and for a long time the film settles into more of a quirky art-house drama style, albeit with a darker edge due to the fate of the hotel's guests. During this period, a romance subplot enters as we meet Richado Sagawa (Kiyoshiro Imawano), who is courting Katakuri divorcée Shizue (Naomi Nishida).

    There are a few interesting musical numbers, and the love song between Richado and Shizue has attractive, bright production design. Although some of the songs were a bit bland to me--I prefer the music of, say, Jisatsu saakuru (Suicide Club, 2002)--they are all intriguingly staged, ranging from spoofs of rock videos to The Sound of Music (1965). Miike keeps a wicked sense of humor going throughout the film--there is something funny about most of the characters, most of the ways the characters relate to each other, and most of the scenarios.

    All of the technical elements in the film are superb. Miike treats us to a lot of interesting cinematography, the location/setting of the Katakuri home is wonderful, and the performances are good.

    Later, Miike shoots for more of a madcap Monty Pythonesque style, complete with "zombies" nodding their heads and toe-tapping to a song (ala the Camelot dungeon prisoner in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975, or the group of people being crucified in Life of Brian, 1979). The latter reference is particularly apt, as the "message" of The Happiness of the Katakuris, insofar as there is one, ends up being remarkably similar to the message of the song "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" from Life of Brian. Namely, life is short and often brutal, so we should focus on enjoying ourselves and having a good time with others while we're here; and once we're gone, others should celebrate our life and the time we had on the Earth rather than mourning our passing--somewhat like the funerals in some Caribbean cultures, which involve joyous singing and dancing rather than dour moping and tears.

    Those are messages that I couldn't agree with more. It's just too bad that Miike couldn't have made the film a bit tighter, but even as loose as it is, you can't afford to miss this one if you have a taste for anything more unusual/surreal.
    helpful•22
    3
    • BrandtSponseller
    • Apr 26, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 23, 2002 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • La felicidad de los Katakuri
    • Filming locations
      • Kameoka, Kyoto, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Dentsu
      • Eisei Gekijo
      • Ganmo
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,500,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 53 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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