Acclaimed director and actor Frank Oz's award-winning comedy "Death at a Funeral" is a pastiche comedy of errors, and ultimately is a resolution of sorts for a pair of English brothers separated by the Atlantic ocean and years of building resentments and hurt feelings.
A proper British funeral is hit with a cascading chain of unforeseen events that threatens to upstage the deceased, as the assembled living are bickering over eulogies, money, inadequacy, jealousy, an accidental dosing of LSD and a diminutive blackmailing curve-ball from dead daddy's past.
Tea anyone?
"Death at a Funeral" demonstrates director Oz's ability to find the right actors to inhabit the characters perfectly, and he illuminates the fine lines of comedy and tragedy at these momentous events for people who are all connected in overlapping concentric circles of family, friendship and acquaintance.
The fluid performances of all the characters keeps up at a typically fast-paced British comedy standard, and Oz had heartfelt praise and appreciation for Dean Craig's script and his crew of key department heads that included DP, Oliver Curtis, and a cracking art department headed by production designer Michael Howells, who worked alongside art directors Matthew Robinson and Andy Tomlinson.
Their work was dressed by set decorator Judy Farr, and dressing the cast was costume designer Natalie Ward. The film was crisply edited by Beverley Mills with a lively accompanying score by Murray Gold.
The ensemble cast was also lauded by Oz, and included Matthew MacFadyen as Daniel, Peter Dinklage as Peter, Keeley Hawes as Jane, Alan Tudyk as Simon Smith, Andy Nyman as Howard, Ewen Bremner as Justin, Daisy Donovan as Martha, Jane Asher as Sandra, Kris Marshall as Troy, Rupert Graves as Robert and Peter Vaughan as Uncle Alfie.
Monsters and Critics spoke to Frank Oz from Connecticut on Saturday:
M&C:
Oz:
Frank Oz on set of Stepford Wives
M&C:
Oz:
But funerals are sad affairs. Oddly though, I was recently in California for a dear friend's funeral service, for Oscar nominated costume designer, Marit Allen who I worked with in two of my movies, and it was bizarre to me how people avoid talking about anything specific at funerals.
They avoid talking about the person and instead they network or talk business. I guess it's a self-defense mechanism yet I find that behavior at funerals bizarre, that people can't talk about the person and why they are there?
M&C:
Oz:
So the fact he was an American too, yeah well 'the American asshole' (laughs) but Peter's work in 'The Station Agent' was sublime and I told him that a few minutes into the film people would think this is a sexual dwarf joke, but just banking on his acting eliminates the obvious size discrepancy visuals.
Frank Oz with Robert De Niro and Edward Norton on the set of The Score
M&C:
Oz:
M&C:
Oz:
A lot of the action of the film is dependent on the movement of the scenes back and forth between outdoors and indoors, so they all did an amazing job keeping it together. But thank you again for asking about the crew, directors don't make movies alone and I was fortunate to have so many talented people working alongside me.
M&C:
Oz:
M&C: Oz:
M&C:
Oz:
I know Paul Thomas Anderson and he made a fine movie with "There Will Be Blood", but so did some other directors, so how do we decide to call what best? How do you choose this?
M&C:
Oz:
Death at a Funeral is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information. Click Here to read M&C’s review of the DVD.
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