The Funeral (1984)

A jet-black send-up of burial customs in modern Japan, Juzo Itami’s directorial debut, Ososhiki (1984), drew rave reviews from critics from around the globe. Nobuko Miyamoto stars as Chizuko, a big-screen actress who abandons her film shoot when her elderly father succumbs to illness. Itami uses the set-up to poke gentle fun at the funereal hijinks that ensue, lambasting Japanese tradition in the process. A hit prelude to the wildly popular Tampopo (1986), Itami’s film gets a lot of mileage out of co-star Chikako Yuri, a naughty funeral attendee who abandons the casket for a quickie in the woods.