Un tranquillo funerale di famiglia

A travesty of a masterpiece; there are grounds for a complaint. “Funeral Party” (directed by Frank Oz, written by the brilliant Dean Craig, 2007) was a sensational, hilarious and irreverent film: qualities entirely absent from this remake. Those qualities were, however, present in the 2010 “all-black” version, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Chris Rock, Zoe Saldana and Peter Dinklage—in both versions, before his huge success in “Game of Thrones”.

What went wrong? Everything, or almost everything. Starting with the opening credits, which in the original were animated. A hearse made its way across a map, down one narrow street after another, to reach the country house where the funeral had been arranged. It moved forward, turned a corner, reversed direction, and already the viewer was laughing at the thought of the lost coffin. It set the scene for the relatives failing to recognise the deceased upon his arrival, so the whole thing starts all over again – certain gags are in two parts; a director regarded in Italy as a master of comedy should grasp this straight away. Instead, we get the usual dialects that always make people laugh; here we’re in the Frosinone area. The officiating priest livestreams the service on his mobile, complete with merchandise. The girlfriend, due to be introduced to the family, has swallowed a hallucinogenic potion as a tranquilliser – and climbs onto the rooftops, half-undressed. The original film is available to stream on Prime Video: political incorrectness is a serious business.