A wonderful Japanese (black) comedy that deals with the serious, yet funny situation of a funeral. Many black comedies will be more funny than serious, after all, the movie is making fun at a serious issue. Still, The Funeral jumps back between characters that creates a balanced story that is serious, yet funny. Many comedies will not include moments of culture. Here, the movie makes several moments of the story very real as the story showcases the culture of a certain people and their customs. Director Juzo Itami was considered one of Japan's interesting film makers. Since his suicide in the 1990's, very few film makers have come close to capturing his style of movie making. Similar to Passed Away and Marvin's Room, The Funeral is a touching movie with moments of pure delight.