The Casketeers (2018+)
IMDb meta-data is 14 episodes of twenty-five minutes rated 7.0 by 270 cinematizens.
Genre: Documentary (according to the IMDb)
Verdict: Amusing, touching, informative, uplifting
The day-to-day activities of a funeral business in Auckland, specialising in Maori rites and rituals, might not be to everyone’s taste, but this is done very well, combining the human comedy of everyday life – will Francis ever find a way to sneak that fabulously expensive leaf blower past his accountant wife Kaiora? – with the solemn, sad, and serious business of death, loss, grieving, denial, injustice, and anger.
Francis is the micro-manager par excellence in his drive to offer clients a perfect service, right down to scrapping gum from the sidewalk in front of the business. He also likes boy-toys like that NZ $1,300 ultra, high-powered leaf blower, and then there was that white van. What was he thinking when he bought that bucket of bolts? Not even he knows. His conversation with the mechanic who tells him it is not worth repairing is classic when he says it is worth to him [to avoid hearing those four words he fears most from Mrs, viz. ‘I told you so’].
On the other hand Francis seldom asks for or gets the list price on the funerals he sells. More often than not at the sight of grieving relatives he offers discounts, adds extras at no cost, and volunteers more labour for nothing. The accountant grinds her teeth but draws the line at the leaf-blower.
It put me in mind of a marvellous Japanese film Departures (2008), discussed elsewhere on this blog. Click away.
By the way it offers a small window on Maori life and culture that is informative, compelling, and thoughtful. My faith in the enduring idiocracy was confirmed by reading the 1.0 ratings on the IMDb.