The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

June 28, 2022 11:58 AM

The Katakuris are a four-generation family of failures. Aiming to change their luck, they purchase a large old home situated on a former garbage dump near Mount Fuji, aiming to make it a bed and breakfast. When they finally get their first guest, he commits suicide, and the Katakuris make the decision to save their business by burying the body and concealing the death. Stuff gets worse from there. Two things: this is a horror musical; it is by Takashi Miike (Audition).

Rated at 68% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently available to stream in the US on Arrow, and with ads on Asian Crush and Tubi. Available for digital rental via the usual suspects.

posted by DirtyOldTown (15 comments total)

Much like One Cut of the Dead this movie hugely benefits if you go in blind. Definitely only appeals to a certain type of movie-goer though.

Seeing the love for Sam Raimi's Dr Strange and how it's praised for his weirdness makes me wish for a Miike helmed MCU property. Whoo that'd be fun.
posted by M Edward at 2:49 PM on June 28, 2022 [4 favorites]

My uvula!
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:40 PM on June 28, 2022

a Miike helmed MCU property

The last, and best, MCU film.

Maybe Miike could do justice to Kirby's Fourth World....
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:41 PM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Hurmph. Less cow heads than in Gozu.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:40 PM on June 28, 2022

This is vaguely based on the Korean movie The Quiet Family (although that's not a musical). That seems to be on AsianCrush and Freevee. It's been a while since I watched it (like to the point I had it on a VCD!) but I remember it being fun. At least, it's a good companion piece.
posted by edencosmic at 7:06 PM on June 28, 2022 [2 favorites]

I didn't not realize that the Takashi Miike is also the Takashi Miike of Audition fame, but that makes absolute sense, and now I can no longer say that I've not willingly sat through the entirety of a Takashi Miike film because I rented this five times deliberately.

Once out of curiosity during a bored afternoon at the rental place.

Four more times to show people, and proceed to watch them watching it - to confirm how cukoobananapants the entire thing is.
posted by Faintdreams at 5:57 AM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

a Miike helmed MCU property

Miike is no stranger to weird properties so why not. I watched and enjoyed his Jojo Bizarre Adventure movie, movies based on the Mogura no Uta manga, Blade of the Immortal , the Nintama Rantarô movie, the movie based on the Ace Attorney game... And those are just the ones I've watched as he's done many more.
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:58 AM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I loved this movie but nobody I know has heard of it, much less seen it.

My favorite part (I'm probably getting details wrong, it's been a long time since I've seen this) is when the scammer captain is being lifted up by obvious wires, and gets knocked unconscious when a glitter cannon fires through a window as he passes it. That right there is my kind of humor.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 10:30 AM on June 29, 2022

This is vaguely based on the Korean movie The Quiet Family (although that's not a musical). That seems to be on AsianCrush and Freevee.

I can confirm that it is indeed on AsianCrush (for free!), I watched it as part of my Halloween marathon last year. It's a lot more of a Coens-esque thriller than Miike's version, and you also get to see Choi Min-sik (aka the guy from OLDBOY) and Song Kang-ho (aka the dad from PARASITE and other Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook films) from before they were these huge Korean cinema stars.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:07 AM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Miike is such an amazing director -- 100+ films with a HUGE range of tones, styles, and genres. What's great about this film (and also about the far more depraved Visitor Q) is that underneath all the strangeness it is a sweet* story about family togetherness.

*In its own, completely unique way.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:41 PM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Once out of curiosity during a bored afternoon at the rental place.

Four more times to show people, and proceed to watch them watching it - to confirm how cukoobananapants the entire thing is.

I have friends who, 15+ years later, still give me flak for the time I made them watch this movie because it is amazing and they are philistines. Multiple sets of friends, because I did this multiple times with different watching groups. Because this film is solid gold.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:58 AM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

(I think the most advance explanation I gave them of the film was "It's a musical comedy with some fun claymation parts!")
posted by FatherDagon at 7:59 AM on June 30, 2022

I have friends who, 15+ years later, still give me flak for the time I made them watch this movie

Then they aren't your real friends!
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:30 AM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Came back to mention the teenage son's t-shirts, which are quite particular and very odd. In the scene when they find the dead sumo wrestler & his girlfriend, the son's shirt reads:

SEY
EREH M'I
ENO

Which is

YES
I'M HERE
ONE

but backwards.

Later, when they are searching the Captain and find out that he's a fake, the son's shirt says
"There is a risk of losing your way in life"

To which I say, "What the?"
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:09 PM on July 3, 2022

I am now the proud owner of the Arrow Blu Ray of this so I probably need to make my teenager watch this soon.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:42 AM on February 1