Takashi Miike is a director with huge energy when making a film. His trouble is that often he makes features based on only one idea, and doesn't bring up any better ones during the film. The idea in "The Happiness of the Katakuries" is combining horror comedy with musical. The result is completely pretentious. Every song number seems to be there just to point out the movie's obscurity. There is no real reason for the characters to burst into singing: the songs tells us nothing about their emotions. Same goes with the animated sequences. It is everything but enjoyable to watch a film, that tries deliberately to appeal with its oddity. "The Happiness of the Katakuries" tries so hard to be a cult movie, that it is disgusting.
I advise everybody to concentrate on better Miike films, like "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer", to name but a few.
I advise everybody to concentrate on better Miike films, like "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer", to name but a few.