Funeral Parade of Roses
While dealing drugs on the side, Gonda operates the Genet, a gay bar in Tokyo where he has hired a stable of transvestites to service the customers. The madame or lead "girl" of the bar is Leda, an older, old fashioned geisha-styled transvestite with who Gonda lives and is in a relationship. Arguably, the most popular of the girls working at the bar now is Eddie, a younger, modern transvestite. Like Leda, Eddie lives openly as a woman. Eddie's troubled life includes her father having deserted the family when she was a child, and having had a difficult relationship with her mother following, she who mocked Eddie's ability to be the man the of the family. Gonda enters into a sexual relationship with Eddie, who he promises to make madame of the bar, replacing Leda in both facets of his life, with Eddie having threatened to quit otherwise. While Leda suspects what Gonda and Eddie are up to, Gonda tells Leda what she wants to hear, much as he tells Eddie what she wants to hear. As this triangle plays itself out, what actually happens is affected by a joint history between Gonda and Eddie of which they are unaware. This film teeters between fiction and non-fiction as a secondary story is Eddie's friendship with a group of counter-culturalists, including filmmaker Guevara, whose making of a movie mirrors the making of this film. That balance tips into non-fiction as the actual actors in this and Guevara's movie talk about issues covered in this film, such as drug use, and sexuality, especially transvestism as the transvestite characters are played by real life transvestites.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) exemplifies strategically placed narrative design, characteristic of Toshio Matsumoto's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 13-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 45 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.1, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes Eddie performs in the underground gay bar scene, establishing her world of drag queens, celebration, and fluid identity in Tokyo's vibrant queer subculture.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
At 51 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 49% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Notably, this crucial beat Eddie successfully displaces Leda, achieving her goal, but this "victory" is hollow (false victory revealing itself as defeat). Leda's pain and the fracturing community hint at consequences. Stakes raise as Eddie's past begins to surface in fragmented flashbacks., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 76 minutes (73% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, The devastating revelation: Gonda is Eddie's father, and the woman Eddie killed was her mother (Gonda's former lover). The Oedipal prophecy is complete. Eddie has unknowingly committed patricide-by-proxy and incest., demonstrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 82 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 78% of the runtime. Eddie achieves terrible clarity: she cannot escape her fate or her identity. The knowledge synthesizes all the film's themes about destiny, identity, and the impossibility of self-creation., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Funeral Parade of Roses's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 13 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Funeral Parade of Roses against these established plot points, we can identify how Toshio Matsumoto utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Funeral Parade of Roses within the drama genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Eddie performs in the underground gay bar scene, establishing her world of drag queens, celebration, and fluid identity in Tokyo's vibrant queer subculture.
Theme
A fellow performer discusses the nature of identity and performance: "We're all just playing roles." The theme of constructed identity versus essential self is established.
Worldbuilding
The film establishes the underground gay bar culture, Eddie's relationships with other performers, and introduces documentary-style interviews that break the fourth wall. We meet Leda, the bar's mama-san, and Gonda, the bar owner who becomes Eddie's lover.
Resistance
Eddie navigates the complexities of her new relationship while documentary segments explore the lives and philosophies of Tokyo's queer community. The film oscillates between narrative and reflexive commentary.
Act II
ConfrontationMirror World
The relationship with Gonda deepens, serving as the emotional subplot. Gonda represents both desire and unknowingly, Eddie's fate—their connection will carry the film's Oedipal theme to its conclusion.
Premise
Eddie enjoys success, power, and romance. The film delivers its "premise"—a kaleidoscopic exploration of queer identity, sexuality, and liberation. Experimental techniques intensify: rapid editing, psychedelic imagery, and fragmented chronology.
Midpoint
Eddie successfully displaces Leda, achieving her goal, but this "victory" is hollow (false victory revealing itself as defeat). Leda's pain and the fracturing community hint at consequences. Stakes raise as Eddie's past begins to surface in fragmented flashbacks.
Opposition
Flashbacks reveal Eddie's traumatic past: childhood abuse and the killing of her mother. The film's nonlinear structure intensifies, creating psychological pressure. The Oedipal parallels become more explicit through visual and narrative echoes.
Collapse
The devastating revelation: Gonda is Eddie's father, and the woman Eddie killed was her mother (Gonda's former lover). The Oedipal prophecy is complete. Eddie has unknowingly committed patricide-by-proxy and incest.
Crisis
Eddie processes the horror of her situation in a fragmented, hallucinatory sequence. The film's experimental techniques reach fever pitch—reality, memory, and performance blur completely.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Eddie achieves terrible clarity: she cannot escape her fate or her identity. The knowledge synthesizes all the film's themes about destiny, identity, and the impossibility of self-creation.
Synthesis
In a sequence echoing Oedipus's self-blinding, Eddie confronts her reflection and her fate. The film resolves through poetic imagery rather than conventional plot, interweaving Eddie's psychological destruction with documentary footage of the community that continues despite individual tragedy.
Transformation
Final image: Eddie, transformed by knowledge and trauma, exists in a liminal state. Unlike the opening's celebration of fluid identity, the closing suggests identity as prison. The tragic arc completes.