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MOVIES / ON DVD / HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS
Happiness of the Katakuris

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Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

65%
33%
72%
N/A
N/A
N/A
65 %
Reviews Counted: 26 Fresh: 17  Rotten:9 Average Rating: 6.2/10
 
Consensus: If nothing else, Happiness of the Katakuris scores points for its delirious, over-the-top originality.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 90 mins

Synopsis: Best known for his dark splatterfests (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER), director Takeshi Miike takes a detour from his usual style with HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS. After losing his job at a department store, patriarch Masao (Kenji Sawada) has opened a country inn at which the whole family can... Best known for his dark splatterfests (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER), director Takeshi Miike takes a detour from his usual style with HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS. After losing his job at a department store, patriarch Masao (Kenji Sawada) has opened a country inn at which the whole family can work. The trouble is, whenever someone checks in, they seem to die before checking out! The inn spells a different adventure for each member of the family, and Miike somehow finds the ability to work in some surreal clay animation along with several elaborate karaoke-style musical numbers. KATAKURIS is a one-of-a-kind film which will certainly deliver the goods to adventurous cinephiles! [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Kenji Sawada, Naomi Nishida, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naoto Takenaka

Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Kikumi Yamagishi

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 25, 2003

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo - English

Interactive Feature:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Selection

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
4/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Time Out
Ratings Image
3.5/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/04
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
01/24/04
Mark Freeman
Critical Eye
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
09/18/03
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Ratings Image
3.5/5

The Katakuris may not be your typical innkeepers, but the family that sings together and buries dead bodies together, stays together...this is hilarious, macabre, and entertaining.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/07/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
07/08/03
Guardian [UK]
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2/4

It's shot and acted in a way that's hastily, amateurishly theatrical, through digital photography that tries to look beautiful but just plain can't.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/06/03
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
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4/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
05/06/03
BBC
Ratings Image
3/4

It's weirdly -- and often wonderfully -- entertaining.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/17/03
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
Ratings Image
B+

...for all the black humor of this deliriously bizarre fantasy Happiness is a warmhearted film about sacrifice, support and four generations of family togetherness in face of mounting corpses.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/16/03
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/10/02
Dennis Lim
Village Voice
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Ratings Image
2/5

It's freakishly interesting and even outright hilarious at times, but, then again, so are most funerals.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/08/02
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
2.5/4

By the second hour, Miike's story fails to punctuate its powerful setup, and the work, much like the family itself, ends up a tangled mess.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/02
Patrick Z. McGavin
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1/4

There are so many moments in Happiness of the Katakuris that beg us to walk out on the movie, it's hard to pick just one.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/27/02
Michael Booth
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/4

A kind of strange, existentialist comedy.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Jonathan Curiel
San Francisco Chronicle
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Ratings Image
N/A

An amusing scenario, until even Miike seems to lose his taste for the oddly sweet concoction and allows the film to drift aimlessly to a rainbow-hued finale.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Paul Malcolm
L.A. Weekly
Ratings Image
3/4

It's a ball when it works, which is why fans of Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, Francois Ozon's 8 Women, and other darkly inspired, genre-bending musical fusions must introduce themselves to the Katakuris.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Janice Page
Boston Globe
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Ratings Image
3/4

Miike is also counting on the fact that even if you've seen his other films, they won't help you one whit.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/02
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image
2/4

Hardcore Miike fans may want to catch this uncharacteristically upbeat curiosity; however, everyone will be much happier without the Katakuris.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/24/02
Mary Kalin-Casey
Reel.com
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS is a subversive black comedy that will crack you up!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/19/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS is a subversive black comedy that will crack you up!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/19/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS is a subversive black comedy that will crack you up!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/19/05


REEL_REVIEWER
THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS is a subversive black comedy that will crack you up!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 7/19/05

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