Funeral Parade of Roses

Toshio Matsumoto's kaleidoscopic masterpiece is one of the most intoxicating films of the 60s.

A celebration of youth and subcultures, a condemnation of intolerance, and a one-of-kind cinematic experience, Funeral Parade of Roses is a kaleidoscopic masterpiece and one of the most intoxicating films of the 60s. Transgender actor Pîtâ gives an astonishing performance as Eddie, hostess at Bar Genet – where she’s ignited a violent love-triangle with reigning drag queen Leda for the attentions of club owner Gonda.

One of Japan’s leading experimental filmmakers, Toshio Matsumoto bends and distorts time, and freely mixes documentary interviews, Brechtian film-within-a-film asides, Oedipal premonitions of disaster, his own avant-garde shorts, and even on-screen cartoon balloons.