Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
About as ridiculous and brilliant as any one film could be, 16 Jun 2004
I'm prepared to belive that all Japanese films are a little crazy. I don't know enough about it to say otherwise. And if that's true, then maybe this one isn't quite as odd as it appears to my untutored eye. But I think, whatever the prevailing style of modern Japanese cinema, The Happiness of the Katakuris is most likely about as nuts anything you'll ever see.But it is fantastic. Part animation, part musical, part horror, part comedy, and all of it played exquisitely by the actors. Their faces are calm, despite the increasingly ludicrous events that unfold around them, despite the mounting number of dead bodies. The actors, every one of them, are a charm. It is also a wonderful celebration of family. In fact, the only thing that ties the film together is the way the eponymous relations stick by each other. Their story - that of opening a remote hotel and struggling to find guests, then having guests gradually arrive only to die one by one in bizarre circumstances - is filtered through the importance of family ties. It is a nice message, though one that could have become leaden with good intentions. But when told like this, no subject could ever be boring. You cannot help but laugh with delight watching this film. It is that much fun.
|
|
|
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the most insanely original films of all time!, 6 Oct 2003
By A Customer
From Japan's hottest director, Takashi Miike, comes a film that merges together a handful of incompatible genres and ends up creating a genre of its own. The plotline concerns a Japanese family who have shunned the pressures of city life to open a hotel by the mountainside. When the guests begin to come, they all die in unusual ways, leaving the family of having the option of bad publicity or a series of burials. Sounds like Shallow Grave? Well, this film is a MUSICAL! Where the chracters randomly burst into joyous song. An unpredictable film, it also has moments of Jan Svenmajer style animation. Bizarre, imaginative, beautifully directed and unlike ANYTHING you have ever seen!
|
|
|
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This film is so awesome!!, 2 Aug 2006
This film has singing, dancing, horror, romance AND comedy which makes it everything you could ever want on a saturday evening. Watch it with an open mind and you'll love every second.
The first time i watched this i was thinking 'hmmmm, strange' but then it started to really grow on me and now it's definately one of my top ten favourite films.
The first 10 minutes are insane and a bit gross, but after the start you really come to love the characters and the crazy plot the film Takashi Miike has to offer.
I totally LOVE all the songs, i find myself singing along even though they're in Japanese!! They are a bit cheesy, but you have to understand that they're supposed to be, and some of the songs are also really sweet!
The characters are all different and awesome and the storyline is totally insane, but, of course for comical effect. Don't watch this if your comfortable diet of film only consists of normal Mainstream Hollywood films, because you won't be comfortable with how cheesy the songs seem, or with how bold the narrative is. (it dosen't follow the normal beginning, middle and end pattern)
Unpredictable deaths, zombies and playful songs dott the entire story. Beneath all the funky dressing however there also lies a really very sweet message, and you come to understand that the strong underlying moral is of how important love and family is, and how with these things, one has the strength to overcome anything. And on watching this film you'll understand that the Katakuris definately need this family strength!!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![The Happiness Of The Katakuris [2003] [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MEK1R13FL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51m-T%2Bo2jUL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The Quiet Family [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NJQGZH3CL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![EXTE [DVD] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tv56dzs6L._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Kikujiro [DVD] [1999]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41J9RS3DA6L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![The Quiet Family [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NJQGZH3CL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![A Tale Of Two Sisters [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514NGN44X4L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![The Sea Is Watching [DVD] [2002]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512XPMPZH5L._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
![Tokyo Zombie [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Bd0R4P4qL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
