The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002)

Thursday, January 17, 2019 @ 7:00 PM
Plaza Theatre - 1133 Kensington Rd NW, Calgary, AB
$12 General | $10 Members/Seniors/Students | $40 5-Pack Punch Pass | $99 Season Pass

DIRECTED BY TAKASHI MIIKE | JAPAN | 113 MINS.

Beginning his career in the quantity-over-quality world of the Japanese straight-to-video market, where cheap genre features had to be knocked off quickly and regularly with as little fuss as possible, Takashii Miike seized the attention of international critics and cineastes when his films began screening regularly at major festivals in the late 1990s. He is known for routinely knocking out, as at the heights of his productivity, as many as seven or eight features a year. These include such outré cult favourites as the Dead or Alive trilogy (1999-2002), Audition (1999), and Ichi the Killer (2001). The Happiness of the Katakuris arrived on the scene in the middle of Miike’s most productive period at century’s turn. It is a wholly-unfaithful-in-tone remake of the Korean film The Quiet Family (1998), telling the darkly comic story of a family of innkeepers whose guests keep dying and need to be disposed of. The Happiness of the Katakuris turns this grisly saga into a defiantly upbeat musical, and though it is hardly as shocking or whimsically confrontational as some of Miike’s best known work, it is nonetheless the perverse product of a delightfully twisted mind. What is it really about? Life, it insists, ought to be a joy.

- Written by Jason Wierzba

FOCUS: WORLD MUSICALS

With the introduction of sound to the cinematographic lexicon, the Hollywood musical very quickly became one of the preeminent public entertainments of the 1930s. Even now, when one thinks of musicals, one may well be inclined to envision the lavish spectacles of Hollywood or Bollywood. There is a general tendency to overlook the variations on the form, often uniquely characteristic of their national or cultural spheres, that continue to emerge from around the globe. Calgary Cinematheque is pleased to have the opportunity this season to expose audiences to musicals from Hong Kong, Egypt, Iran, Japan, and Indonesia. Musicals are by nature popular entertainment, public art, spectacles meant to be enjoyed by amassed spectators representing a collective body. They are inherently celebratory and communal. Musicals from around the world viewed (and heard) in public space ideally expand our concept and experience of community. Think of these films as locally-global phenomena; experiences grounded in kinship and exultation.

About Calgary Cinematheque

We are a non-profit film society dedicated to presenting significant, challenging, and essential works of cinema art in Calgary. During our season, which runs from October to April, we screen films weekly, in curated programs which situate each film in a thematic and historical context. We do this because we believe cinema is an essential form of artistic, social, and political expression. Audiences should be able to engage with a wide range of cinematic expression, not only with what is commercially viable. We believe in the power of sharing these experiences with other people in a theatrical setting and we strive to cultivate a community around that experience.  

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