Review of The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002) by Miles Q — 25 Jun 2007

Last night I saw The Happiness Of The Katakuri's. I have to tell you, this is a film I DEMAND you see. Yes, YOU! You owe it to yourself, to your loved ones and to humanity to seek out this wonderful, insane piece of art and savour every second of its 2 hour running time.

Happiness Of The Katakuri's is quite simply awesomely good. If you already know the films of Miike Takeshi then you'll need no further encouragement. This incredibly prolific (Around 8 films a year, sometimes more) director makes wild Yakuza pictures(Shinjuku Triad Society Trilogy), reprehensible action thrillers (Ichii the Killer) and deeply disturbing 'feminist' - for want of a MUCH better word - horror (Audition).

Where does Happiness Of The Katakuri's fit into this? Well, it's a family musical horror comedy drama. With stop motion animation, a Zombie dance number and an active volcano. And it totally rocks.

I'm not sure if Miike just woke up one morning and said 'Hey, today I think I'll rewrite the language of film!' or he just got off his face on ketamine. In the light of this possibly both.

I adored this film. After it ended I just wanted to watch it again. The most amazing thing is, he takes all this wildly different elements from many genres of film, melds them together and somehow gets away with it.

(Not always the case with the boys work, but when you're as prolific as him you can't always score gold.) I don't want to go into the plot here, although if you've seen Shallow Grave then this is some kind of alternative universe take on that.

It's also a remake of a Korean film called 'The Quiet Family' but in Japanese. With songs and Karaoke interludes. It's also quite a sweet drama about how close-knit one family becomes when faced with multiple crisis.

I honestly believe Miike is making a serious point here. The fact that he does it so magnificently in a film that is, undeniably, completely barking just adds fuel to the fire of his reputation as a wayward genius.

I LOVED this film. I am going to make everyone in the world see it. I swear, if everybody saw Happiness Of The Katakuri's, if we showed it on huge screens all across the world at exactly the same time on exactly the same day, there would be no more wars, or famine, or crime.

We'd all realise in a huge collective-unconscious moment that hey, everything is going to be okay. Seriously. It's that good. It's that life-affirming. Do yourselves a huge favour this weekend.

Go down to Blockbuster, fire up Bittorrent, do whatever you can to see this film. And watch it on a double-bill with Wild Zero for a true brain-melting experience. A genuine cinematic wonder of the modern world.