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THE
HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS
8/10
Katakuri-ke
no Koufuku : Japan 2001 :
Takashi Miike : 113 mins
The
insanely prolific Takashi Miike may not be the most talented director
currently operating in world cinema (though that’s debatable) but he’s
easily one of the most entertaining. Katakuris has been billed
as a ‘horror musical’, but the horror is fairly incidental and low-key,
and comparisons with Dawn of the Dead are misleading: zombies pop
up only briefly in fantasy sequences. It’s really a comedy with songs
– but this dry description does little justice to a genuinely crazy, deliriously
enjoyable blast of a film that makes Moulin
Rouge and Dancer in the
Dark look like level-headed models of convention and restraint.
Of course, this isn’t a ‘serious’ musical by any means, but neither are
many classic examples of the genre: check out the delicious self-parody
that powers Busby Berkeley’s Gold
Diggers of 1933.
 Scriptwriter
Kikumi Yamaguishi pinches his basic plot from a little-seen 1998 dark
comedy, The Quiet Family: the Katakuris are an irrepressibly optimistic
bunch of city-dwellers who relocate to the remote countryside, where they
open a hotel. The extended family’s optimism and energy seem boundless
- which is just as well, as their first few guests all drop inconveniently
dead: the hotel is like a cross between Fawlty Towers and The
Shining’s Overlook. But Miike isn’t much interested in the flimsy
plot – it’s just a handy launchpad for him to spiral off into his own
bizarre universe of absurdist, deadpan extremity, much closer to Ichi
the Killer than to the uncharacteristic restraint of Audition,
though nowhere near as bloodthirsty as either of those gore-a-thons.
Anyone
who only knows Miike from such gruelling pictures may be amazed to hear
that Katakuris is one of the most infectiously joyous and positive
films imaginable – we’re thankfully a world away from the Disney vision
of a ‘happy family,’ but the Katakuris’ bonds are surprisingly believable
and touching. And is it going too far to see the hotel - where teamwork
and respect for elders are guiding principles, battling with persistent
ghosts of the past - as some kind of a distorted vision of modern Japan,
ploughing indefatigably on after a 20th century of daunting
adversity?
Miike chucks so much into the mix, it’s hard to imagine what he left out – if
anything. There are, inevitably, some dips along the way but it’s remarkable
how long he’s able to maintain his initial burst of comic energy: the
pace seldom flags, making the 113 minute running-time positively fly by.
And, crucially, Miike delivers the goods in an apocalyptic but upbeat
finale – where, as with many of the film’s set-pieces, he avoids splashing
out on pricey special effects by switching over to cheesy clay-mation.
The effect is undeniably rough-edged, but delightfully so, and it’s worth
the price of admission alone to see a fluffily animated version of the
Katakuris’ cute dog Pochi surfing down a wave of lava, before Mr Katakuri
steps in for a daredevil rescue.
August 21st, 2002
(seen 18th, Filmhouse Edinburgh – Edinburgh
Film Festival)
For all the
reviews from the 2002 Edinburgh Film Festival
click here.
Have a look
at our Takashi Miike Director's Lounge
Alternatively
check out other Jigsaw Lounge Takashi Miike reviews:
Dead or Alive
Audition
Ichi The Killer
by Neil Young
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