The Masters of Cinema Series DVD

Funeral Parade of Roses

Edition no. 32

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Release Date: Saturday, 26 August 2006
Country of Release: United Kingdom
MSRP: £12.99

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Directed by: Toshio Matsumoto

Featuring: Pita, Osamu Ogasawara, Yoshimi Jô, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Toshiya Fujita

A feverish collision of avant-garde aesthetics and grind-house shocks (not to mention a direct influence on Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange), Funeral Parade of Roses takes us on an electrifying journey into the nether-regions of the late-'60s Tokyo underworld. In Toshio Matsumoto's controversial debut feature, seemingly nothing is taboo: neither the incorporation of visual flourishes straight from the worlds of contemporary graphic-design, painting, comic-books, and animation; nor the unflinching depiction of nudity, sex, drug-use, and public-toilets. But of all the "transgressions" here on display, perhaps one in particular stands out the most: the film's groundbreaking and unapologetic portrayal of Japanese gay subculture.

Year: 1969
Time: 105 min.