2005 GLFA Films

Pushing Up Daisies

Category: Documentary Short 30 mins
Director: Doug Whyte and Tom Grable

Pushing Up Daisies is a short documentary that explores one of the most mysterious professions in the world: the funeral director. What do they do? Why do they do it? How does it affect them? Pushing Up Daisies addresses these questions by documenting the working lives of two eccentric, disparate funeral directors.

The film opens with Ronald L. Jones. This self-proclaimed "champion of the poor people" is a flamboyant, philosophical man in urban St. Louis, lured into the business by the big cars, fancy suits and rumors of riches. As a child, Ronald looked up to the neighborhood undertakers, inspired by their style and wealth. Following in their footsteps, Ronald became a funeral director and 23 years later is known to be among the best restorative artists in St. Louis.

Ronald prides himself as a purveyor of the ultimate, final send-off, and he considers his funerals to be a "production," complete with gospel choirs and a crew outfitted in gold coats. Our story follows Ronald through the process of orchestrating one of his elaborate, signature funerals. From the gruesome tasks of embalming, facial restoration and casketing, to the "production" of the wake, funeral service and burial, Ronald L. Jones represents the pageantry of funerals in the U.S. His concentration on the look of the body, the quality of the casket and the direction of the celebration shows the audience that all funerals are not created equal...some were created by Ronald L. Jones. (Ronald has even gone so far as to dub his own funeral "SuperJam 2099," which is staged to include multiple wardrobe changes, national music acts and an $85,000 casket, which he is already making payments on.)

On the other side of the spectrum is Peter Burla, an austere, down-to-earth man in Ironwood, Michigan, who views his one-man operation as a chance to earn a modest, respectable living. Since Peter deals primarily with cremations, his business and day-to-day life is in sharp contrast to that of Ronald L. Jones. Instead of embalming and casketing being the daily norm, Peter spends his time fishing and reading the paper while waiting for the return of clients ashes from the crematory.

Peter claims to be the lowest priced funeral home in town and tends to get what they call in the business as "the shoppers." With many days spent simply waiting for the phone to ring, Burla sums up his struggling operation best by saying, "Any funeral to me is a good funeral." Burdened by too many expenses and not enough clients, Peter is a perfect example of the small town funeral home.

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