Review of The Funeral (1996) by Jacob F — 23 Jul 2010
The final collaboration between Ferrara, screenwriter St. John, and Christopher Walken; a collaboration which produced the grittiest and most philosophically loaded films of the 90's. This is Ferrara's Godfather; that film started with a wedding, this starts with a funeral.
The Godfather has America as a land of promise; here America and its promise of freedom are only a chimera from the absence of grace from an uncaring God. Both films end with a violent cleansing to consolidate the family, but to different ends.
As full of Catholic guilt, existential angst as you'd expect from a Ferrara film, this is still works as a straight ahead gangster film, only one that is a bit more rough. Chris Penn gives the performance of his career.
This review of The Funeral (1996) was written by Jacob F on 23 Jul 2010.
The Funeral has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
