The Funeral (1996 film)

The Funeral is a 1996 American crime-drama film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Annabella Sciorra, Isabella Rossellini, Vincent Gallo, Benicio del Toro and Gretchen Mol.

For similar title, see The Funeral (1984 film).
The Funeral
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbel Ferrara
Produced byMary Kane
Written byNicholas St. John
Starring
Music byJoe Delia
CinematographyKen Kelsch
Edited byMayin Lo
Jim Mol
Bill Pankow
Distributed byOctober Films
Release date
  • August 28, 1996 (1996-08-28) (Italy)
  • November 1, 1996 (1996-11-01) (U.S.)
Running time
99 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Italian
Budget$12,500,000[1]
Box office$1,412,799 (worldwide)[2]

The story concerns the funeral of one of three brothers in a family of gangsters that lived in New York City in 1930s. It details the past of the brothers and their families through a series of flashbacks.

Chris Penn won the Volpi Cup for Best Supporting Actor at the 1996 Venice Film Festival for his performance. The film received five Independent Spirit Awards nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.[3]

Plot

The film begins with the funeral of one of the three Tempio brothers, a set of violent criminals. Mourning the passage of their beloved brother Johnny are Chez and Ray. Ray is cold and calculating, while Chez is hot tempered. Flashbacks show us that Johnny was more sensitive. Exposure to communist meetings as a spy sway Johnny's opinions. The chief suspect in Johnny's murder is rival gangster Gaspare Spoglia.

Ray and Chez swear revenge. Ray's wife, Jeanette, opposes the campaign of retribution and the violence it will bring, while Chez' wife, Clara, struggles to deal with her husband's obsessive nature.

As it turns out, Johnny was not murdered by rival gangsters, but by a man who first claimed Johnny had raped his girlfriend, but who later admits, just before Ray kills him, that he wanted revenge because Johnny had beaten him up in front of his girlfriend and friends.

As he buries the dead murderer, Chez reflects on his brothers' lives before the tragedy. He then returns to Ray's house and shoots and kills Ray and his two bodyguards. Chez then shoots Johnny, lying dead in the casket, before putting the gun in his own mouth and committing suicide as the family women wail over Ray's dying body.

Cast

Reception

Reception from critics was positive, as The Funeral holds a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.

Roger Ebert gave The Funeral three stars out of four, praising the acting especially.[4]

Janet Maslin, writing in the New York Times gave it a positive review, calling it 'hotblooded' and 'well-acted'.[5]

Ken Tucker, writing in Entertainment Weekly gave the film a positive review, calling it 'fine, thoughtful, and jolting'.[6]

A review in Empire gave the film four stars out of five, praising the 'complex characters' and 'impressive cast'.[7]

References
  1. The Funeral - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information
  2. The Funeral at Box Office Mojo
  3. "FilmAffinity". FilmAffinity. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  4. Roger Ebert (November 8, 1996). "The Funeral". Chicago Sun Times.
  5. Janet Maslin. "On Crime and Conscience Among Brothers". New York Times.
  6. Ken Tucker. "Movie Review: 'The Funeral'". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. David Parkinson. "The Funeral Review". Empire.
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