Osôshiki

I have never seen a film quite so strange to me as this , but it made a real impression, at times very funny, sometimes sad but always watchable and endearing.

The scene where the kids are looking in on the cremation of the body,was at first unnerving,but also hilarious.

The little details in the script make it worth watching again and again.This was the first Itami film I saw and afterwards I sought out as many as I could get hold of.

The acting was superb, at times I felt as though I was intruding on the family, and felt almost embarrased.

As we all know, the three most significant events for most people and that give the greatest insight into their cultures are births, weddings, and funerals. Ososhiki tells the story of how a family conducts and behaves at the funeral of one of their relatives. The director does a great job of presenting the ridiculous, absurd, and selfish behaviors they exhibit as well as beautiful, emotional, and loving behavior.

I am going to respectfully disagree with the above comments. Even though I am not Japanese and haven't been to Japan, I have studied Japanese culture (though I can't claim to be an "expert") and I believe that for the most part the humor is easy enough to follow. Like when the priest arrives in a Rolls Royce. It follows the same theme of the wealthy minister in many US comedies. And then there's the organization like how many cremation lunches to make at the crematory. And of course things that have nothing to do with culture like when the manager tries to get up to answer the phone and then collapses because he had been kneeling too long and his legs have gone numb. All the while, the rest of the family is trying to keep from laughing and disrupt the prayer service that's currently taking place. But even the cultural satire is easy to follow. Like when the deceased's brother stops the funeral so all the guests can pose while he takes pictures or then Aoki, one of the guests, brings his movie camera to film everything in order to preserve it. All in all, I rank this film with "The Gods Must be Crazy" is that it does a good job in satirizing a culture's transition from traditional to modern without being disrespectful to that culture. While I do not suggest that this film will teach the viewer about Japanese culture, it is still very enlightening on certain Japanese habits.

A look at how Japanese deal with death, with a humourous twist. It is much darker and less light heartedly funny as Itami's other efforts, like Tampopo or A Taxing Woman. The movie still takes a somewhat irreverent look at the whole funeral process in Japan. I would recomend this movie if you like his other ones.

Told by Wabisuke Inoue (Tsutomo Yamazaki), this is a story about his father in law's sudden death from a heart attack and the ensuing arrangements for the wake and funeral, culminating with the actual rituals themselves. This film runs the gamut of emotions, and that is where its brilliance is. At times you laugh at the sometimes zany characters, but then there are moments so touching you find yourself, if not in tears, at least becoming part of the moving experience. For anyone who has ever been involved in the planning of a wake/funeral, here it is: The quibbling over the cost, the obnoxious relatives (one guy, Aoki, brought his video camera), the squabbling between the principal characters on "what he would have wanted", the people who are drinking and enjoying themselves too much to leave etc. But, when you feel there is a point where this is all absurd, there is a moment where someone really feels the loss. That, to me, is what makes the film so great. It has a smile on its face, but sometimes pain in the heart. Enjoyable and moving, its a real gem.