The Funeral
Osôshiki

Juzo Itami's debut feature, which chronicles three days of preparations for a traditional Japanese funeral, was a huge hit in Japan and launched him as a writer/director. He would make ten features, all starring his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto, the most famous of which is his 1985 follow-up Tampopo. The Funeral is a comedy of details that never shies away from the feelings of grief at the loss of a husband, father, sibling, or neighbor, but it is more interested in the way a solemn function such as this, replete with responsibilities, expenses and proscribed ways of behaving, affects the individual participants. The film is less interested in telling a story than presenting a detailed snapshot. Thus, things are presented that never get followed up on, like the fact that the deceased man's son-in-law (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is having an affair with a woman who shows up on the day of the wake. We get to see how this complicates that day for him but not how it affects his relationship with his wife (Nobuko Miyamoto). This style of storytelling, which rejects many Western narrative concepts, would become something Juzo Itami was celebrated for. It works well in the case of this specifically contained picture.