The Funeral (1996) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

Here’s my review of The Funeral.   Thanks for watching and please subscribe.  New videos dropping every week.   For Exclusive Content:  https://www.patreon.com/filmsceneinvestigation   Rumble:  https://www.rumble.com/filmsceneinvestigations   Odysee:  https://odysee.com/@filmsceneinvestigation:e   Daily Motion:  https://www.dailymotion.com/Filmsceneinvestigation   Help Support Me At:  https://www.PayPal.me/beaucarter91

Transcript

00:00hey everyone it's me Bo back once again on the film scene investigation channel here with another

00:19cult movie review I hope everyone is doing good in today's video I'm going to be reviewing the

00:281996 period drama the funeral so as I'm sure some of you are aware I'm a huge fan of Abel Ferrara

00:39and the various movies that he's put out over the years the funeral in particular I rate highly

00:49so yeah looking forward to doing a deep dive into this movie today and as always guys if you

00:58haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel if you like the reviews that I do

01:03so the funeral from 1996 starred an array of top caliber actors including Christopher Walken

01:14Benicio del Toro and Isabella Rossellini this movie marked Abel Ferrara's 10th feature film

01:23as director and also marked the last collaboration between him and writer Nicholas St John for years

01:34the two worked on various projects together including the Driller Killer China Girl and King

01:40of New York St John's skillful writing mixed in with Ferrara's imagery was a brilliant combination

01:50so yeah in 1996 they suddenly parted ways stopped working together and since then they've never

02:00reunited which for me is a real shame so the first time I saw the funeral was back in 2021 I was at the

02:12time just watching a load of random cult movies and yeah I just stumbled upon the funeral I was already

02:20a fan of Ferrara's work ever since watching King of New York so seeing Christopher Walken once again

02:29team up with Abel Ferrara yeah it definitely sparked my interest in regards to the plot the movie followed

02:38two brothers Ray and Chez played by Christopher Walken and Chris Penn respectively their brother Johnny

02:47played by the actor Vincent Gallo had just been murdered and the family were basically out for revenge

02:55the movie began with the family members gathered together in the wake of Johnny's death his coffin was

03:04slowly carried into the family home as they awaited a priest to give the last rites and then through a

03:13series of flashbacks we saw the trials and tribulations of Johnny and all the kind of things that led up to

03:24his death he was this young upstart kid trying to make a name for himself and yeah I must say I found the Johnny

03:35a character quite intriguing and yeah it's just a shame actually that those two Gallo and Ferrara never

03:43actually worked together ever again because yeah I thought that could be a kind of cool dynamic for

03:52further movies down the line the family were basically gangsters you know involved in illegal dealings and

04:02because of this Ray played by Christopher Walken he was suspicious that a rival had murdered his brother

04:10Gaspar Spoglia played by actor Benicio del Toro was the prime suspect Ray knew that Gaspar was a dangerous

04:20man and more than capable of murder they had both had previous dealings with each other over the hiring of

04:29union workers so yeah he knew the family and we also later found out that Johnny was sleeping with his wife

04:39so yeah there was a lot of bad blood between them to say the least and yeah of course logically to Ray

04:49Spoglia was the prime candidate separately to this you had the wives kind of basically try and talk their

05:00husbands out of making any rash decisions while of course this movie revolved around this family bereavement

05:10the real story was about Chez and his declining mental health on the surface

05:19Chez seemed okay but deep down he had this ugly side to him and while i thought initially the character

05:30was just hot-tempered as the film progressed it was quite clear that Chez was experiencing some sort of

05:41mental breakdown this all culminated with Chez taking a gun and shooting various family members including his

05:52brother at the end of the film i mean even just thinking about it now it was very haunting it was a

06:01chilling piece of cinema i remember watching this movie for the first time and seeing how it all played

06:09out and yeah i was shocked it just kind of came out of nowhere and i legit didn't think that Chez would

06:18actually take a gun to his own family and what's crazy as well is that in the midst of all this chaos

06:27we've got you know the women screaming you know bullets are flying

06:32chez then turns to the coffin and takes a shot at johnny i mean johnny was dead he was in a coffin he was a

06:42corpse yet chez still took the gun and you know just took a shot at him it was just like wow how crazy is this

06:52guy i mean the whole thing just really exposed how poor chez's mental state was and yeah i have to say

07:02that the final scene while it was shocking and you know some really dark stuff it was brilliantly executed

07:12so massive props to abel ferrara you know i i've seen all of abel ferrara's work

07:23and for me this is one of his strongest endings he's ever produced and you know i have to take a moment

07:32to give some credit to the actor chris penn who played chess you know the funeral was an ensemble

07:41of talented actors but for me chris penn borderline stole the show

07:48it was his character's descent into madness that for me

07:53was the most compelling part of the film

07:58this movie being set in the 1930s you know mental illness was a topic just not discussed by anyone

08:08and so with that yeah it made sense that chase's mental decline went undiagnosed he was uh

08:18he was left to suffer and he was never able to get the support he actually needed

08:25you know he was a volatile man to begin with yeah let's let's get that straight he was a

08:30a guy with a nasty streak but when his brother died when his younger brother his baby brother died

08:36innocently murdered it basically tipped him over the edge yeah the whole thing was uh

08:44just kind of heartbreaking you know it was tragic and you really felt for

08:49the family that were left the the widows that were having what were gonna have to pick up the pieces

08:56after what had just transpired and you know it's actually worth pointing out that

09:02even when we take a look back at chess's first scene you know his first appearance in the film

09:07when he goes and pays respects to his brother at first he is calm and collected of course he's upset but um

09:18he seems kind of subdued and just kind of taking in the atmosphere but within a few moments

09:26chairs screamed out in pain it was just all too much for him and he basically let his mask slip

09:36showing his true emotions to everyone you know it all played out so naturally

09:42just props massive credit to the late actor chris penn you know having the story set in the early 1930s

09:53in new york i really did think it enhanced the film's overall quality you know you have to think that

10:00up until the funeral in 1996 abel ferrara's movies had all been basically set in present day

10:07so ferrara this time delving into a period piece was very intriguing to me the film's aesthetic felt

10:20very authentic and it was clear that a lot of time and attention had gone into making the film look as

10:28real as possible as for the other actors in the movie i thought everyone did a fantastic job there were

10:36some really great acting throughout the whole film very character driven and uh yeah nobody gave a bad

10:44performance you know i want to mention the actor david patrick kelly he had a small role in this movie

10:52as a communist speaker now kelly originally worked with abel ferrara on the 1985 miami vice episode

11:02the home invaders i've always liked the actor and yeah it was really cool to see david patrick kelly once

11:10again re-team and work with abel ferrara it was a limited role and uh yeah i would have loved to have

11:17seen a bigger part for him i think he's you know a top caliber actor that is capable of so much but

11:26nevertheless it was great to see him here in the funeral gallo the actor was also brilliant in his

11:33role as johnny gallo had some very strong screen presence in this film and i was very impressed with

11:42what i saw he had this uh this darkness behind the eyes i mean the character definitely had this kind of

11:49rogue rebel kind of spirit in him yeah i just uh was very intrigued with his overall performance i mean

11:59the actor never really went on to bigger and better things but you know nevertheless he was a great

12:07addition to this movie and so dislikes for the funeral 1996 now you know i can't say that there was

12:17anything glaringly bad about this movie there was nothing really wrong that i can really dislike about

12:24it yeah it's not to say that this movie was perfect all movies have their flaws but yeah there was no

12:33major negatives for me anything i could really think of would be the overall lack of action in the film

12:42now fundamentally the funeral was a bleak period piece set around a mob family it wasn't an outright

12:55gangster movie with murders and shootouts going on instead we got a more personal story about

13:04a family coming to terms with the loss of a loved one you know i completely understand what farah was going for here and you know for the most part it worked

13:18i just feel that an additional action set piece may have heightened the film's overall quality

13:26now early on in the film we did see johnny and his men hijack a truck and set it on fire you know it was

13:35an awesome little sequence and it showcased some of the familiar gangster action we know but other than

13:44that there really wasn't any action to talk about you know there's no denying that abel ferrara can shoot

13:53action he's produced it over the years and um yeah i think maybe this film was missing some of that

14:02the director clearly wanted to focus on the inner family tragedy rather than the mob activity and so

14:11ratings for the funeral 1996 i'm going to be rating this movie a solid 7.5 out of 10. you know first and

14:22foremost i'm just going to say it for me the funeral is one of abel ferrara's best films the movie

14:30peeled back all the italian gangster bravado and instead showed the emotional scars that are left

14:39when a loved one dies and it also touched upon some interesting themes such as religion communism family

14:49and loyalty you know it's safe to say that the narrative leaned heavily on the morality rather than

14:56the criminal activity and in terms of the film's periodic look and aesthetic i have to give it top marks

15:07you know the costumes the hair the stylings the makeup just everything put together it just looked

15:16wonderful benicio del toro in particular looked very debonair with his various suits that he wore in the

15:25film and to my understanding ferrara had a limited budget to use so credit to him for pulling off this

15:35whole 1930s vibe you know at times there were elements of the film that actually reminded me of the hbo series

15:46boardwalk empire another great show set in the prohibition era over the years ferrara became

15:55a more capable and experienced filmmaker and it showed with this entry in his filmography

16:03he matured and he developed his own style culminating in this personal family drama

16:11so yeah if you haven't watched this one yet it's worth your time definitely go ahead but do not be

16:18expecting a action-packed mob movie the gangster stuff was merely more a backdrop for which then the real

16:29story unfolded and yeah that's all from me today guys i hope you've uh enjoyed the video i will be back

16:36next week with more movie reviews don't forget to subscribe and uh yeah of course take care

17:06so

17:13you

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