Rating: 
Summary: Off beat, strange at times, but it's worth watching
Review: Miike is known for him graphic violence, strange sense of humor, and shocking imagry, but claymation and musical numbers?!
This is strange movie told from the point of view of the little girl in the family and the story revoles around a the guest that stay(and die) at the quiet little inn they own. In about 4 or 5 different times the movie goes into claymation with live action infused too, it's odd but kind of funny in way. But don't let the claymation scare you the movie is accually toching in a way because it show the struggles of a family to strive and be happy in the world and as in real life it's not a very easy thing to do.
So if your looking for something different and you have an open mind pick up this movie and other Miike films, you may just enjoy them.
Rating: 
Summary: What in the hell is going on?
Review: My lovely fiancee introduced me to this movie fairly recently, and it's not that often that a film has me thinking for hours after it's over, 'What in the hell was all that about?' being an avid lover of the cinema, I have always had great respect for directors that like to push the envelope and do something unique as well as creative. This movie goes above and beyond the call of duty to accomplish that. I am of two minds about this movie, I'm not saying I don't like it, in fact I think it's one of the best foreign films I've ever seen. Yet at the same time I feel like going up to Takashi Miike and saying 'What kind of a sick freak are you?' It's amazing how a movie can pull your feelings in different directions. This film seems to defy all the conventions of genre and/or style in regards to movie making, because it seems like Miike threw all of the rules right out the freaking window. The film is indeed a feel-good black comedy, it's also a musical, a horror film, a romantic comedy, and a family film. It's strange how one film can be all of these things at one time, and yet be none of these things at the same time. i swear, sometimes I felt like I was watching a Japanese version of Monty Python's The Sound of Music. That is essentially the best way I could ever describe this film. The film also incorporates avant-garde and absurdist slapstick situational comedy along with other great stuff thrown in, including moments of claymation thrown in for good measure. It is the sort of film that you can't help but get drawn into, not just because of everything that I just mentioned above, but also thanks in large part to the incredible performances by the actors and actresses involved. Because in a film that seems so completely outrageous, you would think that the actors would be tempted to camp it up and do it over the top, fortunately they don't. Their performances are honest and sincere, and THAT is what makes this film work. If you happen to be walking in a video store and pass by a foreign film section or a section of Japanese movies, do yourself a favor, check out this film.
Rating:
Summary: What in the hell is going on?
Review: My lovely fiancee introduced me to this movie fairly recently, and it's not that often that a film has me thinking for hours after it's over, 'What in the hell was all that about?' being an avid lover of the cinema, I have always had great respect for directors that like to push the envelope and do something unique as well as creative. This movie goes above and beyond the call of duty to accomplish that. I am of two minds about this movie, I'm not saying I don't like it, in fact I think it's one of the best foreign films I've ever seen. Yet at the same time I feel like going up to Takashi Miike and saying 'What kind of a sick freak are you?' It's amazing how a movie can pull your feelings in different directions. This film seems to defy all the conventions of genre and/or style in regards to movie making, because it seems like Miike threw all of the rules right out the freaking window. The film is indeed a feel-good black comedy, it's also a musical, a horror film, a romantic comedy, and a family film. It's strange how one film can be all of these things at one time, and yet be none of these things at the same time. i swear, sometimes I felt like I was watching a Japanese version of Monty Python's The Sound of Music. That is essentially the best way I could ever describe this film. The film also incorporates avant-garde and absurdist slapstick situational comedy along with other great stuff thrown in, including moments of claymation thrown in for good measure. It is the sort of film that you can't help but get drawn into, not just because of everything that I just mentioned above, but also thanks in large part to the incredible performances by the actors and actresses involved. Because in a film that seems so completely outrageous, you would think that the actors would be tempted to camp it up and do it over the top, fortunately they don't. Their performances are honest and sincere, and THAT is what makes this film work. If you happen to be walking in a video store and pass by a foreign film section or a section of Japanese movies, do yourself a favor, check out this film.
Rating:
Summary: What the heck just happend?
Review: That is all I could say after seeing this movie for the first time. I was pretty confused and I wasn't even sure where I was. This movie was not good or bad. There is nothing like it, to compare it to. It is a quirky, well bizzare, tale of a family and what keeps them together. I think it was pretty interesting, and if you have a sense of humor like mine at all, then you will be laughing your butt off at this film. My favorite scene is the "I love you" song. Just bizzare.
Rating: 
Summary: Horribly Disappointing
Review: The acting is truly horrible. The special effects are sadly dated. The plot is okay (for a Japanese remake of a Korean movie). Miike is always an aquired taste, but this is definitely not one of his best attempts. Rent it first, if you can, but it isn't worth $30. You probably will never watch it a second time.
Rating:
Summary: Another brilliant piece of work by Miike.
Review: The Happiness of the Katakuris (Takashi Miike, 2001)
To be short, The Happiness of the Katakuris is, quite simply, the most delightfully twisted movie I've seen in quite a while. Based on the hit Korean film The Quiet Family (described by some as "the Korean Addams Family"), The Happiness of the Katakuris comes off, more than anything, as The Sound of Music seen through the eyes of a psychopath who's just smoked rat poison-laced crank after dropping two hits of acid that were originally bought at a Grateful Dead concert in 1982, but were genetically altered by a mad scientist attempting to find a way to turn people into claymation zombies who would stop at nothing to do his bidding.
Yeah, it's that good.
Masao Katakuri (Pistol Opera's Kenji Sawada), sick of his life as a department store shoe salesman, buys an out-of-the-way guest house after being promised by the real estate agent that a major road is being built that will run right by the house. He enlists the help of his whole family in the running of the enterprise. They consist of his wife, Terue (The Ripples' Keiko Mastsuzaka, who looks absolutely stunning for having recently turned fifty); his grandfather, Jinpei (Tetsuro Tanba, whose fifty-year career is rapidly approaching Christopher Lee's in its prolificity); son Masayuki, recently released from prison after being convicted of pickpocketing (Pulse's Shinji Takeda); and daughter Shizue, whose husband left her soon after the birth of their child (Godzilla 2000's Naomi Nishida). No one's altogether happy about this.
Their first guest finally arrives. He checks in for the sole purpose of committing suicide. That's when things really start to get weird. (You'll understand when you see it. And you WILL see it.) Fearing that a death on the premises will cause unduly bad publicity, the family decides to bury him on the grounds. All well and good, except that all their guests start dying. And when Masao gets the news that the real estate agent wasn't lying, and the road crew are coming through...
This is what musicals could have been. Utterly insane, for one thing. (It's obvious from the way the movie is filmed these musical numbers are happening in peoples' heads, which helps to combat the total-lack-of-realism factor.) Well-plotted, for another. No chorus pops up, and the leads weren't (for the most part) necessarily chosen based on their voices, so a shrieking, off-key chorus isn't needed to lend the idea that not everyone in this world is capable of singing like an angel. The dancing is refreshingly naïve; Naomi Nishida says in the DVD extras that that's how Miike wanted it, which upped the movie a couple of notches in my estimation.
But the main thing that puts The Happiness of the Katakuris head and shoulder above most other musicals, both of the Hollywood and the Indie varieties, is that by the end of the movie, you don't just care about the situations, you care about the characters. These are, for all intents and purposes, real people, unlike those in most musicals. Yes, Miike could have spent a bit more time on character development (especially with Masayuki), but what's here is so far above and beyond the usual that it's easily overlooked. Masayuki still tugs at the heartstrings anyway.
Well, okay, so the end is kind of predictable. But so what? When everyone gets together and sings that last number, you wonder why Robert Wise didn't come up with the brilliant idea to cast the Von Trapp family in claymation while they're being hunted for in the catacombs.
A must-see film. **** ½
Rating:
Summary: Want to see something REALLY different? No, really ....
Review: THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS is the Japanese remake of the Korean black comedy, QUIET FAMILY, as filtered through director Miike's pitch-black sensibilities. Where QUIET FAMILY was a staid, dry black comedy, KATAKURIS goes for broke with claymation scenes, no-budget musical numbers that would shame any Bollywood quickie and overall tasteless atmosphere. The Katakuri family of the title are anindustrious, hard-working lot (if not very smart) who open a bed-and-breakfast in a rural area in the hopes of a major highway being built nearby. The highway is never built, and the few people they do get wind up dead the next morning! Rather than cast a pall over their already hard-luck hotel, they bury the bodies at a nearby lake. I can't really say if KATAKURIS is a good film, but it's very, VERY different.
Rating:
Summary: A completely unique movie experience
Review: There's an interview on the DVD for the Takashi Miike film "Audition" where he says that he has the benefit of not having to work under the microscope. Apparently no one really cares about cinema in Japan so he's free to do as he pleases and make whatever movies he likes without fear. It shows. There's a freedom in the way he directs. Each of his movies feels like it's a form of organized chaos and are shot with a complete abandon of conventions. "Audition" went far beyond any horror movie I've ever seen in terms of not only well-placed gore but psychological horror. "City Of Lost Souls" took the concept of the adrenaline-fueled action movie to it's nihilistic, stylish limits. "Happiness Of The Kataruris," on the other hand, is a feel good black comedy... if that makes any sense. A heart-warming story about a family that sticks together despite themselves, always trying to do their best... despite bad luck, dead bodies, con men, homicidal maniacs, and forces of nature. It's completely absurdist. It's got slapstick comedy, gross out humor, black comedy, and horror along with uplifting song and dance routines. (There's even a karaoke number!) The special effects are done (probably for budgetary reasons) in claymation. Amazingly, Miike juggles all of the balls fairly seamlessly. Despite the numerous deaths over the course of the movie, I don't think it's possible to finish the movie and not feel good about yourself. The ironic hipster types will feel like it's a musical for people who hate musicals and everyone else will probably just dig it because it's so freakin' funny. The musical numbers were intentionally performed with very little time for the actors to prepare, which makes it all the more believable. The first musical scene between the naive, love-starved daughter and the "secret agent" con man had me laughing so hard my sides hurt. The cast is so self-conscious about the dancing that it makes the scenes even funnier. There's so much going on that you're going to have to watch it several times to get it all, but that will hardly feel like a chore. The cast is very likable (you can't help but root for any family with luck this horrible) and the film carries a strong message about loyalty and the benefits of hard work. If you like Troma movies like "Cannibal: The Musical," this film is right up your alley. Between an awesome movie and a number of great extras on the DVD, there's no reason for any fan of left-of-center cinema to pass it by. I dare you not to feel good about yourself when you finish it.
Rating:
Summary: a total trip!
Review: This film is absolutely extraordinary. I had seen Miike's Audition and very much liked it. I knew that he made several films a year and that he had worked across genres, but nothing prepared me for this! As I left the theater I looked around at my fellow theater goers and saw sly grins, chuckles, bemusement and head shaking. We had really been thru something,let me tell you! Strangers exchanged smiles and comments. the bizarre experience had forged a common bond. We had seen the Katakuris!. I could describe the story, but why bother...see it, it is bold, original, masterly, flawed and wonderful. I can guarantee you one thing, it's fresh and you won't be bored.
Rating:
Summary: One of Miike's Finest
Review: This is one of miike's best movies. a combination of horror, comedy, drama, and a musical is a very original film. it has segments using claymation even. a family owns a motel in the middle of the woods but business isn't going so well. when all their customers end up dead, they bury them in the woods so they won't lose their business. things turn from bad to worse when the bodies come back from the dead.
it doesn't seem like a miike film yet is does because it's so different from his other movies but then again it IS different. I definetely recommend this movie ot anyone looking for something different.
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