The Happiness of the Katakuris is perhaps the most bizarre and unique film yet created by prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike. After seeing his over-the-top yakuza action movie Dead or Alive at last year's festival, I knew I couldn't miss an opportunity to see a Miike film at this year's program. I wasn't disappointed, as The Happiness of the Katakuris is a wild ride of thrills, spills, chills and kills.

Although much less violent than his earlier works, Happiness is still completely nuts, and in an odd sort of way, endearing. Film critic Lawrence P. Raffel describes it as a comedy-horror-musical hybrid, but even that may be too mundane a description. The film follows the misadventures of the Katakuri family, as they attempt to make ends meet running their floundering guest house. As the guests start dying and their nerves become frayed, the family increasingly bursts into song and dance in highly creative musical numbers. The first such scene is particularly manic, featuring exaggerated horrific reactions, jerky mannerisms and prancing about, as the family discovers the dead body of their very first guest. Miike's experience directing music videos comes shining through here, as the musical numbers are all well-choreographed and entertaining. The music ain't bad either.

The guests all die in amusing fashion, but none more so than the sumo wrestler who drops dead while plowing his 13-year-old girlfriend, crushing her in the process. Comedy gold, I tells ya! The film also features a few stop-motion animation sequences that cast doubt on Miike's sobriety, though they certainly don't feel out of place in a film as far left of center as Happiness. And let's not forget the hijinks of British Royal Family member and US Navy Pilot, Richard Sagawa (yes, there are many things wrong with that statement), or when the bodies of the deceased guests rise from the grave as dancing zombies in pseudo-Thriller fashion. This movie has it all! But as crazy and flamboyant as the film is, it still manages to craft a compelling tale of a family struggling to live under the same roof, so there is a genuine human element beneath the escalating madness.

The Happiness of the Katakuris is a wonderfully strange film, and I recommend it to anyone wanting a fresh cinematic experience. Unfortunately, the unusually high hipster-doofus quotient in the audience dampened the experience a bit, as they seemed to be laughing at everything, not just the funny bits. And news that Killer Tatoo had been cancelled (because the only English subtitle copy was inadvertently destroyed) soiled my enthusiasm as well. But overall, this was a great opening night to the 2002 festival, and I highly enjoyed this film.

For a glimpse of this strange and wonderful world, visit the Official Website.

Thumbs up! Way up!