Review of Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) by John M — 16 Jun 2017
On my first day in Los Angeles I ended up at a small independent cinema called The Cinefamily, and by sheer luck I managed to get in. It just so happened to be the opening night of the 4K restoration of Toshio Matsumoto's highly transgressive and influential "Funeral Parade of Roses".
It was a fantastic experience, not the least because of this community's fervor for such a lost gem of arthouse/experimental film. Set in the Tokyo underground, the film concerns several transvestite prostitutes, primary among them one named Eddie.
We follow their love lives and drug lives with occasional pauses for cinema verite styled interviews centered around their perspectives on sexuality and culture. Jarring editing, strobe cuts, provocative and disturbing imagery, and frequent fourth wall breaking keep you on your toes all throughout the viewing.
In terms of influence, the plot is very loosely adapted from Oedipus Rex, and it paved the way for movies like Park Chan-Wook's "Oldboy" and Gaspar Noe's "I Stand Alone". Stanley Kubrick was directly inspired by the fast-motion action sequences and utilized the same technique in "A Clockwork Orange", complete with whimsical organ music.
In fact there's even a few phantom ride shots that just had to be an inspiration for many iconic sequences in Kubrick's 70s output. The meticulous level of restoration by Cinelicious is readily apparent, and it is wonderful to see this level of passion put into preserving such a critical piece of cinematic history.
"Funeral Parade of Roses" is disturbing as it is hilarious, and now it is essential viewing for cinephiles due to its impending Blu-Ray release.
This review of Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) was written by John M on 16 Jun 2017.
Funeral Parade of Roses has generally received very positive reviews.
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