The Funeral: Criterion Collection

“Try to look more bereaved.”

This isn’t how funerals are supposed to go. Or is it?

Offering something arguably more realistic and touching than any other mopey, water-works-filled funeral sequence/movie we have seen before, Juzo Itami’s The Funeral does anything BUT try to make some kind of gut-wrenching impression on its audience. The writer/director knows that funerals are sad. They are all sad to varying degrees, but he also knows that they are WEIRD and a HASSLE! And in poking fun at the weird traditions and preparations for a funeral – more specifically, a traditional Japanese funeral – Itami’s directorial debut all the way back in 1984 manages to somehow feel fresh and relatable, even so many years after its initial release.

"is a film that is hard not to like, or even love"


When 69-year-old Shinkichi Amamiya (Hideji Otaki) dies unexpectedly of a heart-attack, his daughter Chizuko Amamiya (Nobuko Miyamoto) and son-in-law Wabisuke Inoue (Tsutomu Yamazaki) must quickly organize the funeral at the house where Shinkichi and his wife Kikue (Kin Sugai) were living for some years. But the problem is…they don’t really know how to put this all together. However, that doesn’t really matter to them. In fact, most of the emotions that they teeter back-and-forth between during the three days of preparation are annoyance and excitement. They do not really know what to expect. They gain assistance and advice from their funeral manager, Satomi (Ichiro Zaitsu) and the local undertaker, Ebihara (Nekohachi Edoya), but every step contains something unexpected and new for them to learn. Their natural curiosity and ignorance make the perfect pair for making their way through the whole event that requires things like buying a coffin, putting together an altar, getting food, somehow gathering all of their distant family, and well…learning how to be properly sad.

In all of these preparations, there is some kind of hilarity to be found, and the director is not afraid to display those comedic moments in the form of slapstick. Two characters pass a sandwich from car-to-car while driving in the pouring rain. The coffin of the deceased father gets carried upstairs feet-first, so they all have to laboriously turn it around. During a long prayer from a priest, someone’s legs fall asleep from being in the Seiza position for too long and then fall on TWO TIMES on their ass.

Then, there are the moments that highlight the oddness of these long traditions, like when people come observe the dead body. They think they an ear is changing colors. They think he still feels warm. Then they have a whole discussion on whether or not to put the body straight into the coffin or maybe they should let him lay in his bed for one more night. And how exactly is one supposed to act sad during the ceremony? What is one supposed to say? Chizuko and Wabisuke have a nifty “Etiquette and Ritual” tape that goes step-by-step for the appropriate words and actions they should say and do.The Funeral: Criterion Collection

But what is great about all of the moments of awkwardness, levity, and dynamics between family members is that none of it feels forced. It feels natural and spontaneous. And though I am sure a good chunk of the film’s viewers have never been a part of a traditional Japanese funeral, these moments are relatable for their undeniable humanistic quality. And what is so interesting is that because of the fact that The Funeral spends a majority of its time focusing on these family dynamics and interactions rather than on the deceased, it gives the film its unique charm, sincerity, while also being undoubtedly entertaining. 

Then when you finally get to the moments of sweetness or sadness, they seem to pack a bigger punch, becoming suddenly grounded, though the film never lets you linger on these moments for long.

The Funeral is a film that is hard not to like, or even love. In making his first film at age 51, Juzo Itami shows a whole lot of life in a film anchored by the subject of death. Pulling from his own experience at a funeral with his wife (and leading role in the film), Nobuko Miyamoto, Itami gives us something real and honest in this story. 

The Funeral is now Blu-Ray, officially honored with an induction into the glorious Criterion Collection with a brand-new, stunning digital restoration.

4/5 stars

 

The Funeral: Criterion Collection

Blu-ray Details

Home Video Distributor: Criterion
Available on Blu-ray
- May 17, 2022
Screen Formats: 1.33:1
Subtitles
: English
Audio:
Japanese: LPCM Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

It’s death, Japanese style, in the rollicking and wistful first feature from maverick writer-director Juzo Itami. In the wake of her father’s sudden passing, a successful actor (Itami’s wife and frequent collaborator, Nobuko Miyamoto) and her lascivious husband (Tsutomu Yamazaki) leave Tokyo and return to her family home to oversee a traditional funeral. Over the course of three days of mourning that bring illicit escapades in the woods, a surprisingly materialistic priest (Chishu Ryu), and cinema’s most epic sandwich handoff, the tensions between public propriety and private hypocrisy are laid bare. Deftly weaving dark comedy with poignant family drama, The Funeral is a fearless satire of the clash between old and new in Japanese society in which nothing, not even the finality of death, is off-limits.

Video

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the new high-definition digital restoration is a thing a beauty. Colors, both in the main film and in the short, black-and-white silent film, are wonderfully balanced. The definition is impeccable. Plus, grain and sharpness are looking good. Nothing to complain about here.

Audio

The 2.0 Monaural soundtrack comes across as something that is very healthy and sharp. All dialogue is clear and the soundtrack is mixed throughout nicely. Overall, a solid track.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

  • New interviews with actors Nobuko Miyamoto and Manpei Ikeuchi
  • Creative Marriages: Juzo Itami & Nobuko Miyamoto, a short program produced by the Criterion Channel
  • Commercials for Ichiroku Tart by director Juzo Itami
  • Trailers
  • PLUS: An essay by author Pico Iyer and, for the Blu-ray, excerpts from Itami’s 1985 book Diary of “The Funeral” and from a 2007 remembrance of Itami by actor Tsutomu Yamazaki

Blu-ray Rating

  Movie 4/5 stars
  Video  5/5 stars
  Audio 4/5 stars
  Extras 3/5 stars

Composite Blu-ray Grade

4/5 stars


Film Details

The Funeral: Criterion Collection

MPAA Rating: unrated.
Runtime:
124 mins
Director
: Jûzô Itami
Writer:
Jûzô Itami
Cast:
Tsutomu Yamazaki; Nobuko Miyamoto; Kin Sugai
Genre
: Comedy
Tagline:

Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor:

Official Site:
Release Date:
March 16, 1987
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
May 17, 2022
Synopsis: It's death, Japanese style, in the rollicking and wistful first feature from maverick writer-director Juzo Itami. In the wake of her father's sudden passing, a successful actor (Itami's wife and frequent collaborator, Nobuko Miyamoto) and her lascivious husband (Tsutomu Yamazaki) leave Tokyo and return to her family home to oversee a traditional funeral. Over the course of three days of mourning that bring illicit escapades in the woods, a surprisingly materialistic priest (Chishu Ryu), and cinema's most epic sandwich handoff, the tensions between public propriety and private hypocrisy are laid bare.

Art

The Funeral: Criterion Collection