Departures
Dir: Yôjirô Takita/Japan/2008/130mins/Cert: CLUB
Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kimiko Yo, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, and Takashi Sasano. Language: Japanese
The surprise winner of an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Departures tells the story of a concert cellist named Daigo who undergoes a transformation following the death of his father and the dissolution of his Tokyo orchestra. Daigo retreats, guilt-ridden, to his picturesque hometown in northern Japan to look for work, with his obedient wife Mika in tow. He responds to an ad for a company called “Departures,” thinking it’s a travel agency, but discovers that the company caters to morticians who perform “encoffinments”—highly stylized ceremonies to prepare bodies for burial or cremation.
Despite being a taboo in Japan, he soon finds pride in helping grieving families but he still can’t find the courage to admit to Mika what he does for a living.
Departuresis a tonally eccentric, lushly scored, moving, and funny drama that uses the rituals of death to foster a greater appreciation of life.
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