Death at a Funeral

Frank Oz, 2007, UK/USA/Germany/Netherlands, 90 mins, Certificate: 15

Screening in collaboration with Sydenham Arts

You are cordially invited to a funeral like no other. Please dress and be prepared to behave in the appropriate in such circumstances somber and dignified manner. But be warned that you may… die laughing!

This is Daniel’s father’s funeral. Daniel is the good, but severely underappreciated son. And in this occasion, on top of his grief, he has to deal with an incompetent undertaker, his famous, arrogant brother back from America, his cousin’s fiancé, Simon, accidentally ingesting potent drugs and a dodgy dwarf that arrives uninvited, nobody knows, and makes socking claims for the dearly departed. Will Daniel’s dignity survive? Will yours? As you crying out loud laughing?

The constantly, equally severely underappreciated Mr Darcy of Joe Wright’s magnificent “Pride & Prejudice” (2005), Mathew Macfadyen, the gloriously ambiguous Home Secretary Julia Montague of BBC’s recent mega hit “Bodyguard”, Keely Hawes, and the beloved Tyrion Lannister of the unprecedented TV phenomenon, “Game of Thrones”, multiple awards winner Peter Dinklage, star. The British American Frank Oz, who first left his indelible mark as a puppet master with his legendary work in the “Muppet Show” and the original “Star Wars” Trilogy, and then evolved into the filmmaker responsible the unabashed, outrageously hilarious comedy staples “In & Out” and “Bowfinger”, directs. And the american character actor Alan Tudyk delivers an unforgettable, fearless and cult classic performance as Simon.

For these and so many other, drop dead… funny reasons you have to discover, this daring, dark comedy became such an international sleeper hit, that it was remade as an all out American comedy, only three years later.

But this is the British original – the perfect event to attend and get into the spirit(s) of this year’s Halloween.

Reviews:

★★★ “… Death at a Funeral has a very British flavour. In fact, at times it reminded me of nothing less than an extended episode of Fawlty Towers, minus the manic genius of John Cleese… The closer we get to the end credits, the faster and more furious the jokes come, until they’re tumbling all over one another. The film’s climax is nothing short of hilarious. And “Death at a Funeral” doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the type of humor it embraces it. Everything is in there, from physical hijinks to verbal repartee to naked man jokes to drugs and gross-out stuff.” James Berardinelli, ReelViews