The Funeral

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The Funeral

1984,

2h 4m,

Comedy

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Watchlist

100%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

The lives of an affluent and modern Tokyo couple (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto) are suddenly interrupted by the death of a parent and the desire to give a suitable, traditional funeral. Easier said than done, apparently, as a number of small-scale crises keep things from going smoothly, even with the help of an extravagant priest and a how-to video cassette. Tensions rise and boundaries are pushed in this satire about the clash between modern convenience and traditional culture.

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

May 12, 2022

Itami Jûzô’s debut feature is an at once wistful and whimsical depiction of the emotions unleashed by our private and public confrontations with death.

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

Sep 24, 2023

7

“The Funeral” is a very easy to watch movie about how Japanese families work, particularly regarding the case of death, but also has a universal appeal due to the comments Itami makes, which extend much further than just the ones about family.

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Michelle Kisner

The Movie Sleuth

Sep 22, 2022

The Funeral addresses the generational divide between old traditions and the duality of the younger cosmopolitan members who try to uphold them with their own spin on it.

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Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

May 15, 2022

Utilizing the very real customs and traditions of Japanese culture, Itami presents the public versus the private for audiences to observe within a fictional setting which incorporates various hijinks, promoting a personal rumination on life and death.

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Nathanael Hood

Unseen Films

Apr 15, 2020

7/10

...a sober, gently melancholy look at an upper-middle-class family's preparation for a traditional Japanese funeral.

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Draco S

May 20, 2018

The humor here for me was few and far between. I guess I need to understand Japanese culture a bit better. I did find it good to learn about funerals in Japan and traditions there.

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Rey S

Apr 30, 2018

Written and directed by Juzo Itami starring Tsutomu Yamazaki as Wabisuke Inoue narrating his father in law's funeral. Many people show up including the friends the father in law made at the senior's club to Wabisuke's mistress.

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Juzo Itami

Director

Tsutomu Yamazaki

Wabisuke Inoue

Nobuko Miyamoto

Chizuko Amamiya

Kin Sugai

Kikue Amamiya

Hideji Ôtaki

Shokichi Amamiya

Koen Okumura

Shinkichi Amamiya

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Synopsis

The lives of an affluent and modern Tokyo couple (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto) are suddenly interrupted by the death of a parent and the desire to give a suitable, traditional funeral. Easier said than done, apparently, as a number of small-scale crises keep things from going smoothly, even with the help of an extravagant priest and a how-to video cassette. Tensions rise and boundaries are pushed in this satire about the clash between modern convenience and traditional culture.

Director: Juzo Itami
Producer: Yasushi Tamaoki, Yutaka Okada
Screenwriter: Juzo Itami
Production Co: Itami Productions
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Japanese
Runtime: 2h 4m

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