The Burial Society

I saw this film as part of the 6th Annual Okanagan Film Festival, and having seen two other wonderful films already ("Marion Bridge" and "Un Crabe Dans La Tete"), i had high hopes for "The Burial Society". Although the cast is just loaded with experience, it is only the performances of the old men that are impressive. Rob LaBelle's starring role might win him a Genie for Best Impersonation of Don McKellar, but little else. And the writer / director's win at the 2002 Vancouver International Film Festival for Best Canadian Screenplay is a disgrace -- the ending begs the audience to believe things of the supporting characters that would be unconscionable. Whereas Kodak donated unlimited film stock to the producers of "Un Crabe Dans La Tete", it seems that the producers of "The Burial Society" were a little short on stock. The use of flashbacks and flashforwards is fine, but to use the exact same shots over and over again is shameful ... not to mention insulting to the audience. It seems as though barely 45 minutes of film was shot and then had to be edited to feature length. Go ... support the Canadian film industry ... go see "The Burial Society" and tell me i'm wrong ... but make sure you also see "Marion Bridge" and "Un Crabe Dans La Tete".

I was pleasantly surprised in seeing this movie. I have a fascination with such things as the way a culture honors its dead and so I liked the movie from that standpoint, as it shows the great care and devotion given to the preparation of a body for burial in the Jewish faith. There were some interesting twists and turns, which took me by surprise. The main character is a nebbish, but I suppose that is exactly what they wanted for this role. There is poetic justice involved, which also struck my fancy, that there is law and order to the universe. Great care is given to the scenes involving the preparation of the body. I also thought the actors who played the Jewish men who prepared the body, were all very believable characters and probably veteran character actors, which gave their delivery much weight. The crooks looked like crooks too, so good casting was involved.

Burial Society is a film noir, a bargain basement emulation of early Coen Brothers style. It tells the story of loans manager Sheldon Krasner (Rob LaBelle), a man of quiet desperation who embezzles money from the wrong people. In an effort to elude the gangsters who are searching for him he conceives an elaborate plan to join the Chevrah Kadisha or Burial Society made up of devout Jewish men who prepare dead bodies for burial.

As expected with this kind of film there are twists a plenty, but none are really surprising. This kind of quirky film noir piece has become stock – we know to look for the twists and turns and when they do come, they're not that surprising. We've seen this kind of story many times, but director Nicholas Rasz at least shakes things up visually, using several showy shots that break up the functional monotony of the story. In one scene as Krasner is putting money into a bag it is seen from the bag's perspective. Not necessary, but a tricky little shot nonetheless.

Rob LaBelle is fine as the nebbishy Krasner, and at 82 minutes Burial Society flies by, but doesn't leave any lasting impression.

I guess this film is not well known because it isn't easy to categorize and it defies the conventions of any genre. If you don't consider that a bad thing - which is to say, if you actually like movies that challenge convention and make one uncomfortable, this is A material. The film is a VERY dark comedy, very clever, very squeamish (unless you enjoy hanging out in mortuaries), and quite frankly, different from most everything else out there in movie rental land. I also found it refreshing to see elderly people who were not dotty, and morality tales intertwined within thriller twists. The film does share some qualities of the good films that the Coen Brothers used to make, but it seems to be less interested in playing into genre expectations. Rob LaBelle does a fine job of letting us inside his head, and the supporting cast are all glorious. The movie is only slow if you crave the MTV-Hollywood glossy glucose fix of adrenaline. Slow movies often provide a rich, rewarding experience, and this movie is no exception to that rule. A definite gem!

I saw this film at the London showing of the Moving Pictures Film Festival. I like it overall, but the ending was problematic. The film boasts high production values, and the actors were uniformly very good. I did not know most of them. The story had the feel of a Coen brothers production.