The Internationality of “Death At A Funeral”

Ashley Kawashima

Mass Communication

Term Paper #3

11/29/2011

The Internationality of “Death At A Funeral” 

The media product produced both in the United States and abroad that I chose to analyze are the differences and similarities between the British version of the movie production “Death At A Funeral” and the United States production of the film also titled “Death At A Funeral”. “Death At A Funeral” is set during the funeral of a father and based around the many family and friend issues that can come out of relationships both good and bad, while at the same time dealing with the death of a loved one and the potential death of his little person ‘lover’. The differences between these two movies I believe help to highlight some of the many cultural differences between the United States and Britain as well as on the media industry and the type of media that is perceived as popular by the public in each country.

When beginning my analysis of the character and cultural differences in the two versions of “Death At A Funeral”, I found it easiest to begin with the first scene where there has been a mistake with the body brought to the house. The US version of this scene is a lot louder, more profane, and racial then that of the British version which is much more composed, calm and quite. This definite difference in opening scene can more then likely be at least somewhat attributed to the ethics of the media system in Britain and the United States. The United States media world is somewhat based around the general acceptance of sex and profanity and the more careful regulation of violence, where as when looking at the British media system they tend to restrict profanity and sex more than they would violence.

Another scene I chose to analyze the differences in was when it becomes clear to everyone at the funeral that there is someone alive in the coffin. The british version of the scene is a lot less dramatized then that of the American version. There is no crude humor or jokes being made by the son talking about his father, and with the exception of  the boyfriend who is on drugs and hears someone in the coffin, the scene is very calm and collected allowing the hallucinating boyfriend to appear even more insane to the audience. In the American version the family members are a bit more talkative from the very beginning with partially due to Chris Rock (son of deceased father) cracking jokes about his father and talking about things such as the golden girls, which lightens the mood of the scene from the very beginning. What I have drawn from scenes like these are that American’s in media seem to need a more complex and comedy drawn scene to make them laugh out loud, where as British comedies seem to need less distraction and more focus on one or two particular characters in the scene.

The scenes in both versions of the movie were also emphasized with music that was appropriate for each individual version and the country it was made in. Where the British “Death At A Funeral” soundtrack was of a lighter tone with less background music filler then that of the United States version of “Death At A Funeral” soundtrack which was full of face paced and bass filled music that fit the high energy and intensity of the American family comedy drama. The soundtrack of the American version drew from some of the top hits in US music and was used to dramatize scenes in the movie. Where as the British versions soundtrack tended to be minimal at best and allowed the scenes to be dramatized and played up by the actors instead of background noise. This can be somewhat related to the idea of contemporary transmission which is the communication of cultural values to different cultures. I think the movie “Death At A Funeral” as it is portrayed in the American and British version translates the ideas of how families in different regions are both similar with their drama and problems but very different in the type of language they use, their actions to a degree, and what they perceive as appropriate behavior for dealing with their issues as a family. Movies like this are just another way that film producers can communicate thoughts and ideas about a generation of people and comedy to a mass audience of viewers.

Some things that remained the same in both versions of the film were the actual concept of the film as a hole entity. The producers of both movies stayed pretty much within the same story line, just changing specific aspects of the family and the level of their reactions to the issues that are raise in the movie. Another thing that remained the same was the character who played the little person lover of the deceased father. It appeared that by having Peter Dinklage play the dwarf in both movies the American producers and casting directors were helping to create just another layer of familiarity between the American version from the British version which also added to the humor of seeing him play the root of many of the problems in the movie between two completely different families.

In the end the audiences reaction to both versions of the “Death At A Funeral” film based on research done from focus group studies shows that the film’s British version was under appreciated and not hyped up as much as it should have been when it first came out to get he most viewers possible. Many people were said to have never seen the movie because they didn’t know it existed in the first place, but when presented the opportunity to watch the film thoroughly enjoyed the laugh out loud comedy. The US version however did very well in theaters partially due to the fact that it got a lot more hype and media advertising from its viewers. This proves that mass advertisement plays a big roll in what society views as being important and what types of media they have the most well known access too. “Death At A Funeral” is a perfect example of how the movie media world can be similar in story lines and big ideas from country to country, but vary when it comes to the details, comedy, and character reactions that will attract different types of audiences across the globe in our mass media market.

Bibliography:

–Death At A Funeral. Dir. Frank Oz. Verve Pictures (UK), 2007. DVD.

–Death At A Funeral. Dir. Neil LaBute. Screen Gems (US), 2010. DVD.

-“Death At A Funeral.” Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral/>.