Continuing my journey through the filmography of director Abel Ferrara, it was time to dust off the DVD and revisit one of my favourite Christopher Walken performances in The Funeral (1996). Set in the 1930s, the film begins with one of its characters watching a Humphrey Bogart movie. From that point, The Funeral feels like a draining of the gangster genre of any mythos, flashiness or glamour, complicating the revenge aspect of a mafia family wanting to settle the score over one of their members being killed. While the cinematography follows on from the darkly lit, brownish hues of The Godfather, Ferrara’s touch along with screenwriter Nicholas St John sullies the cliches with philosophical discussions and memorably visceral details. With the death of Johnny (Vincent Gallo), the youngest of the three brothers, the other two brood on what to do while grieving – the oldest Ray (Walken) prowls around looking for vengeance while the combustible Chas (Chris Penn, frightening and intense in such a physical performance) starts to mentally crack. Their wives played by Annabella Sciorra and Isabella Rosellini have to deal with the men’s anger and refusal for any contemplation and introspection, particularly the smart, argumentative character that Sciorra plays (who also helped produced the movie). Filling out the movie’s focus on the three day wake are flashbacks to the history and tension with Johnny’s interest in communism and worker’s rights conflicting with the family’s capitalistic dealings with the factory bosses as well as the violence and psychosis dealt to the family deep in their collective childhood. Rounded out by recognisable New York character actors including Ferrara regulars (Victor Argo) and future Sopranos cast members (John Ventimiglia) as well as Benicio del Toro as the smooth rival gangster who is the chief suspect over Johnny’s death (my favourite scene is the sit down between Walken and del Toro). Scored by Joe Delia who even cowriters the blues standard that Penn sings in the film. Even in comparison to King Of New York, the film foregoes the gangland war action you might expect; instead it dwells on dialogue about God, hell and personal choice, and the violence is ugly whether depicted or whispered about. In the end, The Funeral is a vision of hell. Recommended.
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