Review for The Crazy Family

Introduction

It’s time for the next Director’s Company release from Third Window Films this summer. They’ve really found a goldmine of independent quirkiness from this short-lived Japanese production company, and each release has offered much to appreciate. Something about The Crazy Family gave me pause, and had me reaching for my spreadsheet. It seems that families are big business in Far Eastern cinema, and for my sins, I have reviewed The Quiet Family, Boomerang Family, and The Fox Family over the years, three different visions of dysfunction from Japan and Korea. The Crazy Family promises to be the most dysfunctional of the lot.


The Kobayashi family are finally going places. They’ve bought their first home. It is a small place in the suburbs, but there is just enough room for father Katsukuni, mother Saeko, daughter Erika, and son Masaki, although they are quickly joined by a pet dog Inumaro. They’ve all got their issues, but it’s a happy family unit. And then grandpa Yasukune visits. A few days later, he’s still visiting. It’s only when Katsukuni calls his brother, he learns that grandpa has been thrown out. Having him as a permanent resident will be unbearable, but Katsukuni comes up with a solution; build another room. It does mean excavating a basement though.

The Disc

The Crazy Family gets a 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on this disc, with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Japanese audio (presumably Mono) with optional English and German subtitles (note that the German subtitles are for the film alone). This is a film very much of its period and that shows in the film stock used, which is of that soft and grainy formulation that was commonplace in the eighties. Having said all that, the image is mostly clear and sharp, free of print damage, and with good detail. Grain is more apparent in darker scenes, and that affects the contrast and night-time detail. The film has a very naturalistic feel to its production design and lighting. The audio is fine, the dialogue is clear and the subtitles are accurately timed and free of typos. The film also gets some nice music.

Extras

The disc gets an animated menu, and you’ll find the following extras.

Director Gakuryu (ex-Sogo) Ishii Interview (27:30)
James Balmont Video Essay (18:41)
Tom Mes Commentary

Conclusion

The Crazy Family is a black comedic satire that hits in just the right way. It’s the kind of film that everyone should watch, an eternally relevant commentary on our modern capitalist systems. Come to think of it, the world isn’t shy on relevant commentaries on capitalism; I’m sure we all see at least one such production every few months, but the reality is that before the message can sink in, we’ll see something bright and shiny that we just have to buy, a new iPhone or a bit of fast fashion, a vinyl record we have no intention of ever playing, a figurine that we’ll never unbox... The property ladder is for most of us, the ultimate expression of ownership. Somewhere in human history, we went from living wild, and finding or building our own shelter, to this strange obsession with buying and owning property. The Crazy Family is the ultimate expression of that bizarre idea.


The Kobayashis are the typical nuclear family, on the surface at least. Katsukuni is the breadwinner, a hard-working salaryman who has just now earned enough to buy a house. Saeko is the typical housewife, albeit fun-loving and outgoing. Masaki is a student obsessed with getting into a good university, to the point where the obsession begins to affect him, while Erika is a young woman holding onto a ‘little girl cuteness’ long past the age where it’s appropriate, with dreams of becoming an idol. Societal conformity demands that such families own their own homes, and Katsukuni recognises the obsession to fit in, albeit one that negatively affects the other members of his family, although he’s blind to its manifestation in his own behaviour.


The dysfunctional family fits into their new house well enough, with just enough space for privacy, and their respective idiosyncrasies. It’s when grandpa turns up for a visit, and winds up moving in, that frictions threaten to ignite. The solution is obvious, find grandpa some room for himself, but there’s no room to extend outwards, and the dog kennel is obviously out, which is when Katsukuni has a brainwave. Create a basement. At this point I’m reminded of all those multi-million pound London mansions that started collapsing when owners started digging downwards to add cinemas, swimming pools, gyms and the like. For that is when things start to go wrong for the Kobayashis as Katsukuni rips up the kitchen floor breaks through the concrete, and starts digging downward with a fanatical glee, only pausing to freak out when he finds an insect infestation.


As his determination to complete the project increases, he ignores Saeko’s pleas to stop, Masaki gets increasingly annoyed by all the noise when he’s trying to revise for exams, grandpa keeps egging him on, and poor Erika gets lost in the hubbub. It isn’t long before the first cracks appear in the family unit, and all hell breaks loose.


Well, that’s the first time I’ve ever yelled “Cactus in the face!” at the TV screen before, or indeed in any context. The Crazy Family is deliciously dark, and surprisingly funny. It has the build of tension as the familial relationships get increasingly strained, and when the inevitable explosion of violence comes, it could go either way. Ishii opts for cartoon violence instead of something more visceral, and it simply elevates the comedy. There’s a meaningful message at the heart of the film that really works well; it’s just the cynic in me that thinks that our society is too far gone at this point to pay attention.

The Crazy Family is another must-own release from Third Window Films, and can be had directly from Arrow Video, from Terracotta, and from mainstream retailers.