The Funeral (1984 film)

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The Funeral
Directed by	Juzo Itami
Produced by	Seigo Hosogoe
Written by	Juzo Itami
Starring	Tsutomu Yamazaki Nobuko Miyamoto Kin Sugai Hideji Otaki
Release date(s)	November 17, 1984 (Japan) March 16, 1987 (USA)
Running time	124 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
IMDb profile

The Funeral (お葬式, Ososhiki^?) is a 1984 Japanese comedy film by director Itami Juzo.

The film shows the preparations for a traditional Japanese funeral. It mixes grief at the loss of a husband and father with wry observations of the various characters as they interact during the three days of preparation.

The Funeral was the writing and directing debut of Itami Juzo, and was an enormous success in Japan. It won five Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor (Tsutomu Yamazaki). It was nominated in a further five categories and also came first in the annual Kinema Junpo critics' poll.

[edit] Plot

Shokichi Amamiya (Otaki Shuji) is a difficult 69-year-old man, married to Kikue (Sugai Kin). He dies suddenly of a heart complaint, and it falls to his daughter Chizuko (Miyamoto Nobuko) and son-in-law Wabisuke Inoue (Yamazaki Tsutomu) to organise the funeral at their house.

Among other things, the family have to choose a coffin, hire a priest, hold a wake, learn formal funeral etiquette and hold the service itself.

During the three days of preparation, various tensions within the family are hinted at, such as resentment of a rich but stingy uncle, Inoue's affair with a younger woman, and possibly an affair the dead man himself had with a female croquet player.

After the service, the long suffering wife delivers a dignified speech to the family regretting that the hospital would not let her be with her husband as he died.