Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

"A dizzying pop-art fantasia, Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) is a film that evades straightforward categorisation. Through a rapid-fire combination of melodrama, comedy, horror, documentary and experimental film, director Toshio Matsumoto’s freewheeling approach to both genre and form results in a film that gleefully disorientates without ever feeling disjointed.

The film shines a spotlight on the ‘gay boy’ subculture of late-1960s Japan, specifically the gender-nonconforming hostesses of a Tokyo gay bar. Funeral Parade of Roses was made at a time when the lines between identities like ‘gay man’, ‘drag queen’ and ‘transgender’ were far hazier than they are today, and the precise nature of the characters’ own self-image is difficult to pinpoint (perhaps somewhat intentionally). "- Tamsin Cleary (https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/why-funeral-parade-roses-landmark-japanese-queer-cinema)

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Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk