The Funeral (1984)
"Osôshiki" (original title)

At the beginning of the film the father-in-law of the protagonist dies unexpectedly of a heart attack. The remainder of the film is episodic, moving from one incident to another over the ... See full summary »

Director:

Jûzô Itami

Writer:

Jûzô Itami

Stars:

Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kin Sugai

19 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Wabisuke Inoue
Nobuko Miyamoto	...	Chizuko Amamiya
Kin Sugai	...	Kikue Amamiya
Hideji Ôtaki	...	Shokichi Amamiya
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isao Bitô	...	Shigeru
Midori Ebina	...	Kiyo
Nekohachi Edoya	...	Ebihara
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Small old man
Hideo Fukuhara	...	TV Studio Guard
Hiroko Futaba	...	Shokichi's Wife
Manpei Ikeuchi	...	Jiro
Yôsui Inoue	...	Telegram Deliverer
Masahiro Irie	...	VTR Operator
Ryôsuke Kagawa	...	Old People's Club Chairman
Akio Kaneda	...	Fuku

Storyline

At the beginning of the film the father-in-law of the protagonist dies unexpectedly of a heart attack. The remainder of the film is episodic, moving from one incident to another over the course of the three-day funeral, which is held (as is customary) in the home. These incidents contrast old ways and new ways, young and old, ritual ceremony and true feelings, often comically, but sometimes with real poignancy.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | crematorium | japanese

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 March 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death, Japanese Style

Company Credits

Production Co:

Itami Productions, New Century Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Jûzô Itami's first film as a director and writer.

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Goofs

Although the nails are heavily indented into the coffin lid in the house, in the subsequent walk to the hearse there is no sign of them, nor at the crematory.

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Connections

Referenced in Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates the Bachelor Pad (2007)

User Reviews

I beg to differ . . .

. . . from the other comment on this movie. When I first saw THE FUNERAL, for the first forty-five minutes or so, I was disappointed. The video cover can lead one to believe it is a rollicking comedy, perhaps a sex farce. Yet the more I got into the movie, and went with its flow, and immersed myself in its world, the more I enjoyed it. There are parts that I find laugh-out-loud funny, but most of the humor is of a gentle kind, and there are parts that I find very touching. Since that first viewing, I have watched the movie several times, and enjoy it more each time I see it. And it is one of those movies that, each time I see, I notice some little detail that brings me pleasure. I have never been able to sit through A TAXING WOMAN, but I enjoyed TAMPOPO; and I like THE FUNERAL even better.