| Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji
Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Tamaki Miyazaki , Tetsuro Tanba, Naoto Takenaka,
Kiyoshiro Imawano One of an amazing seven features directed in
2001 by Japan's prolific shock auteur Takashi Miike, The Happiness
of the Katakuris is a gleefully morbid musical comedy about a family
of oddballs who open an inn in the mountains. Unfortunately, through
no fault of their own, none of their guests leave their rooms alive.
In order to protect their business, the family resorts to burying
the corpses in the backyard, but this only leads to a zombie problem.
Meanwhile, the daughter falls in love with Richard, a mysterious
British navy officer, who looks suspiciously Japanese but claims
to be the nephew of Queen Elizabeth herself. Just when Richard bungles
onto a clue that might lead him to uncover the string of disappearing
guests, a nearby volcano begins rumbling to life. Propelled by musical
numbers rife with movie and pop culture references, The Happiness
of the Katakuris is a departure from Miike's famously gruesome thrillers. |