The Living Wake (2007) is a dark comedic film written and produced by Mike O'Connell and Peter Kline. A directorial debut and also produced by Sol Tryon, the film stars Mike O'Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jim Gaffigan.
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In search for life's deepest mysteries, the story follows the journey of K. Roth Binew(Mike O'Connell), a self-proclaimed genius. After discovering that he has encountered a rare, unnamed, vaguely-defined but punctual terminal disease, he enlists his eccentric rickshaw-riding best and only friend Mills Joaquin(Jesse Eisenberg) on his final attempt and last day to live. Throughout the film, he attempts to find the meaning of life in "a brief, but powerful monologue" that his eccentric father had promised to tell him, but abandoned K. Roth before he could. This could be interpreted as K. Roth coming to peace with his father's abandonment.
K. Roth's final day begins with a confrontation with his neighbor and rival, Reginald(Eddie Pepitone), whom he invites to his living wake. With his friend Mills, he attempts to make his funeral arrangements, visits a "liquorsmith," and makes a goat sacrifice in order to appease Greek gods. Believing that love is the meaning of life, K. Roth has a picnic with his former nanny, Marla(Diane Kagan), whom he describes as his true love. This fails, and after a brief romp with a prostitute(Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine), whom he also invites to his wake, K. Roth and Mills journey to the public library, where he tries to donate his entire works. When his books are deemed to be unfit for reading, K. Roth visits a psychic(Rebecca Comerford) in another attempt to find the meaning of life.
With his wake and death looming, K. Roth falls into a depression. He is revived when he chances upon a church, the members of which encourage him to reconnect with his family. His brother, Karl(Mark Schulte), and mother(Jill Larson)are reluctant to reconcile with him, and do not believe that he is dying. Karl calls the family doctor. After having a last drink at a bar, K. Roth and Mills prepare for the wake.
The wake begins, with the entire film's cast in attendance. The wake is made up of dancing by K. Roth, a song performed by Mills called "If I Was Real," and a one-woman play performed by K. Roth called "Remembrance of Dawn." K. Roth's wake is interrupted by the arrival of his mother, Karl, and the family doctor, Dr. Schoenberg(Harlan Baker). They plead with him to stop the wake, describing it as another of his "episodes." K. Roth refuses, and the wake continues with K. Roth tying up loose ends, including revenge on his neighbor, Reginald, and the giving away of his possessions. Mills recites a poem about K. Roth.
The wake is again interrupted by the arrival of the ghost of Lampert Binew(Jim Gaffigan), K. Roth's father. Though only K. Roth can see him, K. Roth proceeds to confront him in front of the audience about his abandonment. Lampert explains to him that he never abandoned him, and had simply died without leaving any trace. He tells K. Roth that there is no "equation for life," and therefore no monologue. With his time drawing near, K. Roth has an outburst, stating that he is a "stupid, drunk, scared, dying man." With encouragement from his father, K. Roth concludes his wake as only he could, with a song and dance. With the last words of the song, K. Roth's disease takes effect, and he collapses into an upright coffin. He is proclaimed dead. The members of the wake pay their final respects. A mourning Mills takes K. Roth's body to a pond, where he sets it ablaze as the film draws to a close.
A Mangusta Productions film, The Living Wake was completed in 2007 and shown at several film festivals around the states before being theatrically released in May 2010. In January 2011, Hulu began streaming The Living Wake.[1]
The film won the Comedic Vision Award at the Austin Film Festival in 2007 and the Audience Award for Narrative Feature at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2007.[2] It was the Official Selections for AFI Los Angeles in 2007,[3] Marfa Film Festival, Gen Art Chicago Film Festival and Off Camera Film Festival in Krakow, Poland.[4] It has also won the Best Feature Film Award in 2008 at the Big Apple Film Festival[5]
In 2008, Jesse Eisenberg also won the Rising Star Award at the Vail Film Festival.[6]