NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (May 2022): Criterion have transferred Jûzô Itami's The Funeral to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "High-definition restoration". It looks excellent in 1080P on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The image can show some softness but it appear more linked to the frequently floating camera. Stable shots carry depth, pleasing detail and true, deep colors. There is a black and white sequences (Monochrome document video scene), representing being shot from a home camera - and it has a lot of movement but deft contrast. Overall this has a stronger appearance than I would have anticipated. The HD presentation looked quite good on my system.  

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Japanese language. The Funeral has no bass-heavy aggressive sequences. The sparse score is by Jôji Yuasa (Nagisa Ôshima's Pleasures of the Flesh, Toshio Matsumoto's Funeral Parade of Roses.) The black and white sequence has J.S. Bach's legato Air on the G String sounding poetic and beautiful via the uncompressed transfer. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' / 'B' Blu-ray. that is being released in the UK a week before the US and Canada.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers supplements - including new interviews, separately filmed in Tokyo in 2022, with actors Nobuko Miyamoto and Manpei Ikeuchi. Manpei Ikeuchi talks about appearing in The Funeral and the creative life of his parents, Juzo Itami and Nobuko Miyamoto for about 1/4 hour. Nobuko Miyamoto discusses the making of The Funeral; the evolution of her husband, Juzo Itami, as a filmmaker; and their extraordinary collaboration for about 25-minutes. There is also a 11-minute installment of Creative Marriages, a series produced for the Criterion Channel in 2018, where critic Michael Sragow explores the pioneering collaboration of writer-director Juzo Itami and actor Nobuko Miyamoto. Lastly, are a few TV commercials for 'Ichiroku Tart' by director Juzo Itami. This selection is drawn from more than seventy commercials that Itami directed between 1980 and 1996 for Ichiroku Tart, a company headed by Yasushi Tamaoki. Tamaoki provided critical funding for The Funeral and Itami's subsequent films. After Itami's death, Tamaoki established the Itami Juzo Museum in Matsuyama, Japan, where these commercials still play. The package contains a liner notes booklet with an essay by author Pico Iyer, excerpts from Itami’s 1985 book Diary of “The Funeral” and from a 2007 remembrance of Itami by actor Tsutomu Yamazaki.  

Jûzô Itami's The Funeral is a measured black comedy infused with occasional heartfelt realities. It's subtly satirical - with dry humor - different from the cooking-joy of Tampopo, but the sly comedy is evocative of the 1985 film. The family-centric traditions, and ritualistic preparations are mocked with faux attempts to express mourning while juxtaposing the reality of the 'get together' and having a deceased relative. It's witty, sometimes sad and ultimately reflective. It's an excellent, if purposely unbalanced, unique film experience. The Criterion Blu-ray is at their trademark high standard of a/v adding new, and historic, revealing supplements. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze