The Funeral [1996] [DVD]

"The Funeral" is a moody and atmospheric 30's set gangster film directed by the brilliant Abel Ferrara. It's the story of two gangster brothers coming to terms with their younger brothers death and attempting to find who was responsible for it. Flashbacks reveal his communist views as well as the brothers violent childhood. It won't be for those with a short attention span as flashbacks etc will make it seem confusing if you don't follow it closely. The cast and performances are top notch but don't expect shootouts or high octane action sequences. You'd be better of watching Ferrara's best known gangster film the excellent "King of New York" if you want something more energetic and fast paced. Sadly this dvd release contains no extras but it's very cheap and definitely worth picking up.

Best Ferrara's film ever, and his most "classical" one. Here he proves to be a real director because he doesn't rely on mere shocking scenes or extreme characters. On the contrary, it's an elegant, gloomy story, apparently directed in a Godfather kind of style, but under this surface there are a lot of unsettling dynamics and dark sides that gradually come out and make the film (and the characters) crack down.IT's like Ferrara takes classic cinema and uses it not only to prove he is a real director and not just a naughty boy, but that he can provoke even without looking provoking.It's a greek tragedy set in old America, it's an actors film, any of them being at the top of his own acting ability. Waiting for blu ray version to be released, because the Dvd is good but this film deserves more

Great acting from great actors. Great film apart from the last 5 minutes. Wont spoil the ending but its seems like the scriptwriter couldnt think of how to end the story...and I still dont know who actually shot Johnny.

Nothing for The Funeral, It's not my kind of film. The five stars is for The Addiction which I think is the best vampire film ever made.

Not as good I thought it might be, nice collection of stars, but was a bit dull in places.

fantastic movie and amazing acting from Chris Penn as usual

good

Good film & quick delivery