The Funeral

Working from an original screenplay from his long time collaborator Nicholas St John, Abel Ferrara’s “The Funeral” sees the maverick director working in a more low key mode. That’s not to say of course that “The Funeral” doesn’t have Ferrara’s usual trademarks; seething violence, spiritual males and cathartic redemption. The film’s melancholic study of a crime family in crisis is set off by the murder of 22 year old Johnny Tempio (Vincent Gallo), shot dead in a movie theatre by a rival gang. His grief stricken brothers (Christopher Walken and Chris Penn) vow bloody revenge, while the women (Annabella Sciorra and Isabella Rossellini) of the family look for a more peaceful resolution. Ferrara is a master of transcending conventional genres as he proved with his bold reinvention of the vampire movie in The Addiction (1995) and his rabid cop drama Bad Lieutenant (1992). Again Ferrara manages to transcend the cliches of the gangster film as the bloody quest for revenge becomes an internal affair, leaving the mafia brothers to contemplate the nature of guilt and the futility of retribution. 1996 Venice Film Festival winner for Best Supporting Actor (Chris Penn) and the OCIC (Organisation Catholique Internationale du Cinema) Award for Abel Ferrara. Cast includes: Benicio del Toro, Gretchen Mol.