Fans of previous Takashi Miike films should not be surprised to learn that The Happiness of the Katakuris is another surreal shock-fest of bizarre sexual imagery coupled with ultra violence. This particular work showcases a series of claymation scenes, musical performances, and even a viewer invited sing-a-long near the climax of this entertaining romp into the very odd. The story circles around the lives of the Katakuri family whom have turned their home into a low key hotel in order to pay the bills. Unfortunately, the business is threatened by the untimely spontaneous deaths of each and every guest whom stays at the Katakuri home in some odd and twisted "accident." In order to save the name of their business from negative publicity, the Katakuris begin a massive scheme to hide the death of all residents through burials and well-constructed lies eventually leading the family into an obvious "dead end" which is performed in a "to-die-for" manner by the eldest Katakuris, Masao (Kenji Sawada), and Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka), (don't expect to find better humor in the movie itself). The performances are rightfully overacted and avoid the reaching the threshold of becoming painfully irritating.
Visually, the cinematography boasts to its audience in over-saturated blues and yellows truly conveying a false sense of ease and happiness in the in-fact very depressing lives of the Katakuri family. This ironic theme is further demonstrated throughout the over-the-top cheerful musical numbers satirically thrown in the most unlikely of situations such as the merciless hanging of a guest in the Katakuri home. The spontaneous claymation throws allusions to Quentin Tarantino's use of anime to avoid shooting some of the overly-violent scenes scheduled to be within the Kill Bill films. Unfortunately they seem a little less calculated in Miike's film and in turn are much less effective leaving them to be mere distractions if anything. This is not a film you enter expecting a typical Miike splatter-fest such as Ichi the Killer nor is it a musical in the realms of The Sound of Music but if you can leave your expectations to somewhere in between the two you will leave at the least satisfied.
Visually, the cinematography boasts to its audience in over-saturated blues and yellows truly conveying a false sense of ease and happiness in the in-fact very depressing lives of the Katakuri family. This ironic theme is further demonstrated throughout the over-the-top cheerful musical numbers satirically thrown in the most unlikely of situations such as the merciless hanging of a guest in the Katakuri home. The spontaneous claymation throws allusions to Quentin Tarantino's use of anime to avoid shooting some of the overly-violent scenes scheduled to be within the Kill Bill films. Unfortunately they seem a little less calculated in Miike's film and in turn are much less effective leaving them to be mere distractions if anything. This is not a film you enter expecting a typical Miike splatter-fest such as Ichi the Killer nor is it a musical in the realms of The Sound of Music but if you can leave your expectations to somewhere in between the two you will leave at the least satisfied.