The first hour or so of The Funeral is pretty well perfect, or at least close to it. There are some truly striking scenes, and the way it captures the emotion - and mundanity - of a death in the family is extraordinarily well done, because you really do feel it.
That it also does this while having a unique sense of humour that makes it surprisingly funny in parts just makes it even better. It's the dramedy genre at its best, and I love when films like this successfully walk the line between quietly funny and heavy (The Farewell's a recent example of a film with a similar tone, and an impeccable balancing of emotions).
But at just after the halfway mark of The Funeral, things take a strange turn plot-wise, and I don't know if the film ever fully recovered from it. There are still good scenes later in the second half, but the film as a whole was on such a hot streak, and I'm at a loss why it temporarily went to the place it did.
Ah well. It's still very good. Much of the film is excellent. Probably a hot take, but I liked it more than Tampopo.
That it also does this while having a unique sense of humour that makes it surprisingly funny in parts just makes it even better. It's the dramedy genre at its best, and I love when films like this successfully walk the line between quietly funny and heavy (The Farewell's a recent example of a film with a similar tone, and an impeccable balancing of emotions).
But at just after the halfway mark of The Funeral, things take a strange turn plot-wise, and I don't know if the film ever fully recovered from it. There are still good scenes later in the second half, but the film as a whole was on such a hot streak, and I'm at a loss why it temporarily went to the place it did.
Ah well. It's still very good. Much of the film is excellent. Probably a hot take, but I liked it more than Tampopo.