In the film at least, Onishi seems to disregard these roles and thus the 'mechanics' of the ritual itself. Consequently, he was criticized by some family members. His father's death is his own and we are being forced to experience his loss as our own also, with Onishi, through his 'camera eye'. When I first agreed to show the film, I had only seen a 20 preview version which, in my opinion, does not come close to comparing to the full length version. It was a combination of seeing the preview and a comment from Takahiko Iimura that he thought it was Onishi's best film, that I programmed it for February.
Many people have expressed how they liked it a lot, everyone has their own reasons.
I think they missed the point. But clearly, it's a film that people will love and hate. Three people walked out. One guy said he hated it, but he thinks he was supposed to hate it, that he found himself questioning his own views on death and that made him uncomfortable. It does make you uncomfortable.