Departures (2008) User Reviews

One of my all-time favorite movies

[Metin_7 · 9/10 · 13 April 2009]

It had been years ago since a movie moved me so much that it had brought tears to my eyes, but I couldn't keep my eyes dry while experiencing Okuribito. The story, acting, music and photography are all very impressive.

I guess everyone can in some way relate to the emotions that are conveyed in Okuribito. In my humble opinion this movie is a classic in the likes of Akira Kurosawa's and Yasujiro Ozu's best work: subtle, elegant, serene, soulful, touching and timelessly beautiful. This kind of cinematic storytelling stands high above the usual formula-driven, soulless, commercial Hollywood crap.

the rituals that sustain us

[LunarPoise · 8/10 · 18 February 2009]

Almost three decades since starring in Juzo Itami's classic The Funeral, Tsutomu Yamazaki once more shines in a tale woven around the rituals, traditions and theatre involved in Japanese death rites. The irreverence that makes Itami's classic such a delight is present here. Daigo's first day on the job playing a stiff in a DVD for the funeral business comes back to haunt him in hilarious fashion later on. However, there is also reverence, the film respectfully pointing out that the people who do this necessary but thankless task do not deserve the disdain and revulsion that their profession often attracts.

Daigo loses his job as a cellist, returns to his inaka roots and stumbles into a job as an undertaker. Too ashamed to tell his wife, he slowly warms to his apprenticeship under the masterful tutelage of Sasaki. As he goes about his business, the inevitable traumas of a childhood long forgotten bubble to the surface as he goes about re-acquainting himself with the town. The conduit for the negative feelings towards his profession is Daigo's wife Mika, who takes punitive steps on discovering his new employment.

Screenwriter Kundo Koyama has to take credit for a script that moves along briskly, juxtaposing black farce with raw tenderness, all done seamlessly, and acutely observed. Lipstick on a corpse produces gales of laughter, and you are reminded that sometimes the best fun is had at funerals. Daigo moves towards a form of reconciliation and redemption through the promptings of those around him, and the comfort of his cello.

It would be all too easy for material like this to lurch into sappy sentimentality, but the film tugs at the heartstrings without overtly manipulating its audience. Motoki has to take some plaudits for this for a performance that amuses at times but hints at deep inner turmoil at others. Hirosue is less consistent, at times indulging in the head-bobbing, giggly, saccharine sweet girlishness that is the forte of the Japanese TV drama actress. She has one line in the climactic scene of such stunning obviousness I am surprised it stayed in, but for the most part she redeems herself in the tense interactions with Motoki over their differing views on his new career. Overall, she convinces as the supportive but put-upon wife.

From Kurosawa's Ikiru through The Funeral and now Okuribito, Japanese cinema has a rich vein of movies that exploit the rituals of death. How those rituals comfort us, enchant us, and see us through to a place where the pain still exists but might come to an end, is laid bare in Okuribito. It is an absorbing, moving tale, full of laughter and tears, that celebrates the intricate details of a Japanese rites of passage while laying bare their universal function. Best seen in the cinema, to get the full effect of the luscious orchestral score.

The power of ritual in life and death

[Chris Knipp · 9/10 · 6 July 2009]

Masahiro Motoki is a good comic mime, a useful talent for depicting a Japanese in distress. He plays Daigo Kobayashi, a young cello player who faces the end of his chosen career when the Tokyo symphony orchestra he is part of is dissolved by its owner. He doesn't think he has the talent to get into another orchestra so he sells his expensive cello (which he's still paying for) and moves back to his town in the country. His wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) assents to this with brave smiles. There's a house there for them that his mother left him.

And then comes the job. Daigo answers an ad that's promising. "Departures," it says. He assumes something in travel. Easy hours, good pay. The boss hires him immediately and gives him a wad of bills. Only trouble: the work is "encoffination," or putting dead people into caskets for cremation. ("Departures" was a misprint for "Departed.") This is where Motoki gets to make funny faces as he struggles with surprise, discomfort, and out and out nausea. The first corpse his boss Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) takes him along to work on is an elderly lady who was dead two weeks before she was found, and it's summertime. After this ordeal he can't face dinner without retching. He hides from his wife what he is doing. But the pay is good and the boss is a decent man and he needs work so he stays on.

In professional lingo Moviefone calls this movie "a feel-good dramady about death." Younger people, already sick of the Academy's easy Oscar choices, mocked its members for giving the Best Foreign prize this year to 'Departures' over the edgy Israeli animation about war trauma, 'Waltz with Bashir.' Yes, 'Departures' is softer; but it has depths and its subject is universal. I'd listen to the octogenarian wisdom of the veteran New York critic Andrew Sarris, who calls this "the most moving film I have ever seen commemorating the bonds between the living and the dead."

It's also a lesson in the beauty of Japanese tradition that expresses those bonds. Not so long ago, as Sasaki explains to Daigo, Japanese families prepared their own departed. Now the funeral agents and the casket preparers (Sasaki is the latter) have moved in. But the process still retains traditional honesty and grace. In a process both elegantly respectful and forthright, the body is prepared in front of the assembled family mourners by the funeral professionals. (Sasaki turns out to be a very good one.) In a series of graceful gestures. the body is wiped and cleaned, undressed, turned, and re-clothed, the face caressed, the hands smoothed and placed together just so, all with the deftness of motion that is the Japanese genius, and always discretely shielding the flesh of the deceased from the view of the watchers. Then, well wrapped, the body is gently laid in the casket. The mourners may come forward and say their goodbyes before the box is closed. Shortly thereafter it is taken to a crematorium. Daigo quickly masters the respectful drama of this process, particularly the way the face and hands are manipulated and the clothing is moved, and comes to appreciate the profound emotional meaning it has for the mourners. It's both a leave-taking of the person and an acknowledgment that the deceased is really already gone. Of course immensely complex feelings are involved. Daigo settles into the work. Nonetheless he continues to hide from Mika what he's doing.

When she finds out, she goes home to her mother, promising to return only when Daigo quits the job. But the way he enjoys playing his small but tuneful childhood cello again now shows he accepts his new circumstances and is not unhappy. Daigo's roots in the town are symbolized by the old bath house where he goes to cleanse himself after the dressing of the decomposing old lady on his first days's work. It is run by another old lady, Tsuyako (Kazuko Yoshiyuki), the mother of his former best friend. When she suddenly drops dead and Mika returns for the encoffination ceremony, she realizes the beauty and importance of the ritual Daigo performs for Tsuyako's family. Daigo's father ran a café in their house and went off with a young waitress when he was a boy, abandoning him and his mother. He hates his father and doesn't want to know anything about him. But when by chance -- or more accurately screenwriter Kundo Koyama's obvious arrangement -- he learns about his father's death, Mika pushes him to go and do the ceremony himself, with her at his side, and this time the ritual is a profound personal healing process for Daigo himself, whose tears pour down as he performs it. When a few months pass and winter comes Mika comes back to live with Diago after she discovers she's pregnant, even though she still wants him to quit the job. The film underlines how humble and traditional roles are essential to a society, even as it looks down on them, by showing the dignity of the encoffination process; of the man who handles the cremations; of old Tsuyako running the comfortable old bath house that her son wanted to close and turn into more profitable real estate.

This film is a tribute to the magic and comfort of human ritual. Hence the encoffination process is shown repeatedly, even behind the end credits. It's what the film is about: everything else is footnotes to this ceremony. Sometimes the mourners make it tumultuous, embarrassing, or comic. But it retains the beauty of a culture that knows the value of theater. Takita's movie is more than the sum of its sometimes sentimental or obvious parts. In the beauty of its most humdrum moments, with its focus on everyday family necessities (it celebrates food too), 'Departures' is not at all remote from the quintessentially Japanese quotidian grandeur celebrated in the film masterpieces of Yasajiro Ozu.

Beautiful Movie- I disagree with reviews

[swang8688 · 10/10 · 24 February 2011]

I have read many reviews on this movie and have been surprised by what I saw. I saw many reviews with comments such as this didn't deserve its Oscar win and that this movie was far from a masterpiece because it was too sentimental and exaggerated.One person proposed showing less scenes of him with the cello, speeding up the movie, and cutting out scenes with long stares. I disagree and believe that this movie is beautiful the way it is. This movie is not overbrimming with sentimentality; it has a good amount for such an emotional film. The scenes with the cello and the birds represent the passion and emotions he feel. We don't call Shakespeare's long poems sentimental so why do we call this work of Japanese art that? The more I heard the music I felt like the more I understood the movie. Western movies sometimes disregard time in movies allowing action to follow action. This movie was simply about the meaning of living knowing that we would die. The long, drawn out silences were necessary to convey emotions. If you have studied many Asian cultures, you know that they convey emotions not through words but through silence. The silences give us time to ponder and think about the questions raised, something we are often not given in bang bang action American films.As a musician, I feel like this whole movie is like song filled with much raw emotion.

Grandeur and noblesse, when death is seen as a prolongation of life

[roland-scialom · 10/10 · 9 November 2009]

The human dimension of this film touched me. Some of these things touched me to tears. I list a few of them.

1. The job of the professionals who prepares the dead for their last contact with the family (wake) and their passage to eternity (cremation). In the film, the characters who perform this job, teach the spectator a true ritual of respect and affection with the dead. "Respect and affection with the dead": feelings that the modern life tries to banish from its practices. In the modern world, the dead are inconvenient and dispatched quickly in funerals where the majority of those who are present, entertain themselves with parallel talks, instead of focusing on the reason why they are there.

2. The nobility and grandeur of this job that, in the film, is not associated with any religion, and is directly associated with dealing with human beings. This nobility and grandeur reflects also on to the dead, in the sense that it reminds us that the dead deserve our respect and affection, because a new stage of our relationship with them is starting.

3.The way Daigo grows, as he learns this job, and overcomes (i)the social stigma that society imposes upon the contact with the dead and, also, the people who have contact with the dead, as well as (ii) his personal repulsion with repulsive material aspects of death (odors, rot, etc.)

4. The way Daigo grows, as he incorporates the nobility and grandeur of the job he was forced to do because of the circumstances (he was jobless because the orchestra where he played cello was dismissed). And, when his wife discovers in what consists his job, and tries to force him to quit, he has grown so much that he chooses to keep the job instead to yield to his wife menaces.

5. The way Daigo grows and which leads him back to play the cello and celebrate life more than ever, playing outdoors and playing at home as he used to do when he was a boy.

6. The way Daigo wife grows when she has the opportunity to look close to the job of her husband, and begins to admire him and love him more. Wife who have the opportunity to convince Daigo to take care of his dead father, when Daigo runs away when he gets aware of his father death. Wife, who, when the opportunity showed up, says with pride to the individuals of the funeral, that were almost doing a dirty job with the deceased Daigo father, "my husband will take care of him, he is a professional"

7. The way Daigo grows when he encounter again the love for his father and forgive him for having abandoned the family, while he prepares his old man for the burial.

8. How death can be seen as part of life process, when it causes some people to become aware of how much love they missed, and how much they have been loved without being aware of it.

All this happens because Daigo goes back to his hometown, a small town. That is, the return to his origins helps to renew the ties with the traditions and helps the character to put himself together again.

I'm omitting many precious details that appear throughout the film. These details must be seen personally, because the film was made with great sensitivity and expertise, and deserves to be seen.

Roland.

The odd job

[ethSin · 10/10 · 19 March 2009]

"Okuribito", literally "The person who sees off", is about a supposedly untalented cellist's new job. After returning to hometown as a failure in the music world, he applies for a job with vague description. It turns out to be a job posting for "encoffiner", a person who performs rites and rituals before placing the body into the coffin. A 'tainted' job in the eyes of the society, but he eventually develops pride and purpose in this profession.

The movie started with subtle humor that had me chuckling for first hour, but I was slowly drawn into the story. It turned out to be a very touching and deep film.

The acting in this film was superb. Motoki Tomohiro's performance was especially amazing, hilarious at times, and played the serious and professional scenes very convincingly. I also really liked his narration, which really sets the mood and tone of the following scenes. Yamazaki Tsutomu was also excellent as the protagonist's cool mentor. The film had incredibly nice flow and very well-directed. Music in this movie played a huge role, expressing the protagonist's feelings and harmonized with every scene. It was simply beautiful.

This movie gave me a glimpse of the profession of "encoffiner", as a very respectable job, as it requires absolute accuracy, professionalism, and the respect for the dead even though it is looked down by the society. It is the encoffiner who sees off a person's last journey after dressing them up. This movie successfully depicts the pride in one's job, and questions the meaning of death.

A very powerful film

[Gordon-11 · 20 March 2010]

This film is about an unemployed man taking up a job as a person who prepares body before putting into the coffin.

"Departures" is a beautiful film. It is about the last journey before a person is reduced to ashes, yet it never feels gloomy. In fact, it shows that all humans die one day, and it is how we view it and how those left behind cope with death that matters. Kobayashi treats the bodies with such enormous respect and dignity, which touches me a lot. "Departures" is a film to feel. It makes you think and feel about such a taboo topic which is not normally discussed. I commend the filmmakers for making "Departures". It's a must see.

A Nutshell Review: Departures

[DICK STEEL · 10/10 · 3 March 2009]

By now almost everyone would have heard of this Japanese film Okuribito (Departures), given its win in the recent Academy Awards, clinching the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, beating the likes of crowd favourite Waltzing With Bashir, and the Palme D'or winner The Class. And now after watching it, it's no surprise really, because if I were to go tongue in cheek, it's the novelty factor, given that the Academy would never have conceived upon the notion that a film coming from Asia and filled with death, corpses and coffins, would be anything but a horror film. Seriously though, Departures have Awards written all over it, with fine acting complementing a strong story to tell.

I suppose the equivalent of a "casketer" in local context, would be the embalmer. And it's without a doubt a profession most misunderstood, and shunned because of our innate fear of death. We choose to avoid death where it had gone, and being an embalmer would unlikely be on any kid's wish list of professions. Despite the stereotypical negative connotations, it is a profession that is quite dignified, because the professional is entrusted with the responsibility of helping the loved ones of the deceased cope with the passing on, and to help ease the pain in bringing some colour before the final journey to either the burial ground, or crematorium.

Departures demystifies this profession in the Japanese context. And like all things Japanese, the process comes with an elaborate ritual of preparation, cleansing and presentation, all done with great precision, skillful grace and utmost respect for both the deceased, and the family members. The profession depicted here in the film, is one of the highest order, where we see exactly how the casketers go about their job, and the separation of duties with the undertaker.

Masahiro Motoki (last seen in The Longest Night in Shanghai) stars as the lead protagonist Daigo Kobayashi, a cellist in an orchestra who dreams of going places around the world with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) in tow. Unfortunately for him, his orchestra folds and he is forced to sell his expensive white elephant since he doubts he could make his passion into a successful career. Dejected, he convinces his wife to retreat back into the small town he came from, living in the house his late mother had left behind, in order to start a new life. Little did he know when responding to a job classifieds that a typo had given him the impression he would be in a career that involves travel. The boss of the shop Ikuei Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) hires him on instinct, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

For the curious, the film is an excellent medium to showcase the profession and to do so in good light. We come to learn the craft behind the job, and the necessity of it all, be it dealing with grieving family members, or taking care of bodies that are bound for autopsies. Departures paints through Daigo's experience, the varying spectrum of emotions that one as a service provider would have to face, as we journey with him from novice level. All's not doom and gloom of course, as director Yujiro Takita paced the film with well meaning humour – again never slapstick or disrespectful – throughout the narrative.

The story by Kundo Koyama also excellently portrayed Daigo's relationships with his wife and with his mentor, where the former was like a rubber band waiting to snap because of Daigo's deliberate attempts to not tell his lovely wife what he's up to for a career in order to shield her from the taboo. With the latter from whom he picks up the tools of the trade from, there's a surrogate father figure which he never had while growing up, resulting in some pent up hatred toward his dad who walked out on the family when he was young.

It's an extremely moving piece of drama that doesn't get bogged down by melodrama, and I thoroughly enjoyed its themes of reconciliation, forgiveness and best of all, being a professional and serving with pride. It's a fantastically crafted film with an excellent cast all round, and shatters all taboos that come with the profession of a "casketer". I know it's cliché to say this, but Departures will be a strong contender when I compile my list of top films for the year. It's been some time already where I'm equally entertained and moved by a film, and without a doubt, do not let this depart from our local cinemas before you get a chance to watch it on the big screen. Highly recommended!

Okuribito "departures"

[ikhanh · 10/10 · 1 September 2008]

easily the best movie i have seen in a long while. i just saw this movie during the 2008 Montreal world film festival. it is about a cellist(Daigo)who loses his job and must move back to his hometown. once back there he reconnects with his past, and comes to terms with his life, love and dreams.

desperate to find a job, he answers an ad listed under departures, which turns out to be misspelled. it was supposed to say the departed, the job pertains to dressing, washing, and putting makeup on the deceased before the funeral.

it is a job that most people look down upon because you earn money when someone dies. At first Daigo, does not like his job but little by little he comes to a new understanding of it. the process of prepping the corpse is shown in detail within the context of the story, and little by little we too as an audience get sucked in. it is an incredible ceremony to witness. the undertaker handles the corpse with the utmost reverence and care, every touch of the deceased is done with care and always with perfect precision. we realized as we watch that the deceased are shown the the utmost and ultimate respect before they leave us for good. it is a beautiful and solemn act that will make you cry.

there are many other subplots that all tie up at the end bringing everything full circle. watching this movie one does not feel like we are preached to yet it is powerfully effective in making us realize how every moment is precious and we should not take things for granted. so ironic, a new comprehension on life while communing with death...

this movie will not likely be shown in north America, but if you have the chance to see it i do recommend it strongly

Only in Japan

[nomerit · 7/10 · 27 March 2009]

Very nice film - good tear jerker as it takes audience on emotional roller-coaster.

Motoki gives believable performance and is quite convincing as a cellist. Although the scenes with him playing the cello in wildflowers with ice capped mountains in the background look so much like a Visa advertisement it was a bit too chocolate box. Also the end scene where he is crying over his father could have been a good 10 minutes shorter as the audience is so exhausted by then that there isn't enough energy to sustain them through that overly long emotional scene.

Hirosue's performance is as calming as hearing fingernails screeching down a blackboard for an hour. The horrible fake laughter and false cheer, accompanied by the girlish behaviour are really irritating. She ruined what should have been a dignified role as the long suffering ever respectable Japanese wife. If the film could be shot again without Hirosue I am sure the audience would feel a lot more empathy for the character and the movie would have a greater dimension.

It is charming to see the quite elaborate manners of the Japanese so nicely displayed, and it is this theme about showing respect for both the living and the dead which makes this a quintessentially Jpanaese movie.

Recommended!

Marvellous!!! One of the best movies I've ever seen!!!

[khatake · 10/10 · 25 August 2008]

Probably the best movie I've ever seen. I have seen it at the 32nd Montreal World Film Festival and I hope it'll be well awarded! Even though the plot line is the "death", it's done with such kindness, softness and emotion (every little thing in the Japanese culture is made like a piece of art) and being able to make us feel so much emotions concerning the subject was really enjoyable. It's really a must see, the music is so captivating in every moment of grief. I had to hold my tears 5 times at least. I was also glad to see Tsutomu Yamazaki, I hadn't saw him since Tampopo... that was years ago (there are not a lot of Japanese movies to see in french theaters.)

Mediocre

[zetes · 6/10 · 7 February 2010]

Last year's Best Foreign Film winner at the Academy Awards. It's exactly the kind of film they like: sweet, simple and uninspired. Seriously, Japan can do so much better than this. Masahiro Motoki (great in Tsukamoto's Gemini and Miike's The Bird People in China) stars as an out-of-work cellist who takes a job at a funeral home. Those who prepare the dead in Japan have historically been met with great prejudices. People just don't trust people in Japan who touch the dead and make their living off of misery. So Motoki fights prejudice, even loses his wife (the adorable Ryoko Hirosue) for a while. Eventually, he discovers that the service he is providing is valuable and helps people. The film isn't bad, really. It's just nothing special and occasionally schmaltzy. The only thing I really liked was Jo Hisaishi's musical score. There's one piece during a montage that's especially killer.

Pretentious and Mediocre

[montferrato · 1/10 · 10 January 2021]

I own a big collection of japanese movies. In fact, i love Japanese Cinema. This is the first movie from Japan i could not finish. It is also the only movie from my collection that i put in the rubbish bin. When i took the trash out, i was relieved. This movie is unnatural, engineered to be sentimental in a very cheap and predictable way, intellectually pretentious, as if it would carry a deep meaning ( it doesn't). It looks like a bunch of Japanese youngsters wanted to please an immature American audience. This is a Japanese Movie for people who would never watch a Japanese Movie!

Before you departed from this earth, go see this movie! It's very interesting and remarkable.

[ironhorse_iv · 8/10 · 7 January 2016]

It's very surprising to see a movie about the taboo practice of encoffinment, become so university praise by critics. You would think, this movie would, fall under the radar of American & Japanese society, because of the dark subject matter; however, this movie became one of the highest-grossing domestic Japanese films of that year. It was even, a bigger hit international abroad; winning many awards from critics like the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2009. However, for me, I saw it as a one-time watch. A good movie worth checking out, but not worth revisiting, time after time, again. Loosely based on 'Coffinman', a memoir by Shinmon Aoki, and originally titled "Okuribito" means "the sending away"; Departures follows the story of a young man, Kobayashi Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as a nōkanshi—a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice from those around him, including from his family and friends, because of strong social taboos against people who deal with death. Eventually he must try to earn their respect and learns the importance of interpersonal connections through the beauty and dignity of his work. Can Kobayashi Daigo achieve that or will he be disconnect from his family & friends for the rest of his life? Watch the movie to find out, if you want to! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this movie by director Takita Yojiro was very informative to how Japanese culture prepare their dead for the afterlife. This is pretty much, the main appeal of the film for me. To see, what steps, it takes for them to prepare their dead is very interesting; and I'm not known for having a morbid curiosity for such things. You really do learn, a lot about Japanese culture, by watching this. However, besides those, the movie doesn't have much, going for itself. Yes, the classical cello music by composer Joe Hisaishi was indeed beautiful to hear and some of the film is very well-shot, but as a main stream appeal; it doesn't really have some. It's morbid curiosity at its best. I really don't know, if American audiences would revisited this film, time after time, again like me. After all, the film moves in a somewhat slow, heavy-handed, and predictable pace. In my opinion, the conventional simple story is a little too-stretch out. The result of this, cause the movie to falls into a pit full of pointless filler scenes in the second act. Even, the third act, break up is very clichés. You can see it, coming from a mile away. However, most of the changes from the novel, in the climax for the film, was well-written and perform. I love the ending with the message stone. It was somewhat redeeming and heart-warming. As much, as it's sounding like, I didn't like the movie, I honestly did love it. The actors in the film are all, well-played. One thing, I'm pretty glad, the movie has, is English subtitles then English dubbing, because I would hate to see the movie suffer from bad lip sync. The subtitles really help a lot, because some of these rituals can seem somewhat confusing. After all, there are not many people that eat live squids, go to bath houses and drink Japanese tea in rituals ceremony, here in the States. It was nice to try to understand, such practices. I also kinda glad, the movie had some lighten moments. A good example is when Kobayashi and his boss, Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) are cleaning a body that they thought was a woman, but they find out, it's a man. However, one thing, worth noticing, about Japanese humor is how that joke and many after that, doesn't have that much of a punch-line, because the film tries too hard to be respectful. I think, this film would work, better, if they allow more leeway in how they were able to portray the dead. Maybe there was a little too much calming, hypnotic grace with this PG-13 film. It mask people's fears, too much that humor and drama can't really shine through. I think this is why, the movie kinda suffers, when it comes to rewatch value. Maybe, it could had work better, as an R-Rated film, but that's just a maybe. Anyways; Overall: Departures is alright movie. Somewhat overpraise, but still a great film worth checking out. After all, it's nice to see films like this, reverse prejudice against a once taboo subject.

Remarkable Movie, Deserved the Oscar

[smexpert · 9/10 · 22 April 2009]

Many things can be told about this movie;How it remarkably handle the "Dead" issue, Meaning of life, family relations etc... But What I've mostly grasped from the movie is (I also witnessed that during my 6 months of stay in Japan) that the way the Japanese people do their job. Absolutely devoted, in perfect patience and discipline. No matter What they are doing and What the salary is... They could be a Waitress,a Garbage man or as in the movie; an encoffiner. They just concentrate and do their job. So if you got bored from your job, I simply recommend you watch this movie and compare yourself with the Guy in the Lead role.And think again.

Death is not the end

[Jay_Exiomo · 9/10 · 12 July 2009]

Fixating itself on the pretext of death as a strong stigma to the Japanese rather than on the necrophiliac titillation possessed by those outside this particular societal circle, "Departures" approaches this issue with credible poignancy made more relevant when seen as a mitigation by director Yojiro Takita and screenwriter Kundo Koyama to a prevailing Eastern taboo. Although slightly undercut by an ultimately predictable script, Japan's Oscar-winning entry for this year's foreign-language film category is thoughtfully expressive, portraying a morbidly incriminating profession with dignified grace.

Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) is a cellist for a symphony orchestra which disbands after a performance for failing to gather audiences. Having no job, he and his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) move to his hometown in his deceased mother's house where, upon answering a help-wanted ad he mistakes for a travel agency, he ends up as "encoffiner"-in-training, helping his boss Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) perform a set of ceremonial rites for the dead before cremation. Aware of the social demonizing of such job, he lies to his wife about it until she learns of it anyway and pleads that he finds a "normal job," an appeal he finds tough when he increasingly develops a meticulous fondness for his work.

Takita's charming and ultimately touching apologetic on mortality charts the disorderliness arising from an individual's social circle while he pursues his sense of purpose, with the titular itinerary suggesting more than the moribund ritual the film's protagonist is subjected to. Thus, it also becomes a plaintive meditation on Daigo's spiritual and moral development as he attends to the various abandonment issues that haunt him (a father who ran off when he was young and a wife that stigmatizes him for his newly found "filthy" career). Ultimately, "Departures" is as much a story of atonement as it is about dealing with mortality; that in order to fully embrace one's existence, it is necessary to cope with death -- both literally and figuratively -- while nurturing the bonds that exist among those who still live.

Best Japanese film in 2008!

[hige-1 · 10/10 · 20 September 2008]

Beautiful and touching movie about life and death. My favorite movies dealing with the same issue are Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" and "Red Beard". Also, Juzo Itami's comedy "Funeral" is pretty good one. Same as these master's works, Director Takita successfully put good comedy elements in this serious film. The idea "Death is a gate for another world" may be based on Buddhism belief, but I am sure you can relate yourself to this story with your own experience of losing somebody important. Masahiro Motoki was at his best for the leading role. He once played similar role in "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't" by Director Masayuki Suo (Shall We Dansu?) in terms of being put in awkward situation, involved seriously and end up finding the virtue in it. Music score is by Joe Hisaishi. Great as always. He has done great jobs on films for Takeshi Kitano and Hayao Miyazaki. I am sure this will be the best Japanese movie in 2008. 10/10

Bit disappointing

[Ismedada · 6/10 · 6 June 2009]

Japanese movies always make me curious. A different continent, a different storyline. I was hoping for a very introvert tragic movie with slow pending movie shots. But..... The story did develop fast. I did not get acquainted enough with the main characters. Some moves/interaction/dialog's/motives I classify as unnatural, especially from the main characters wife. Immediately after the beginning there was some comedy in it. People in the cinema were even laughing and it didn't stop. For me comedy and tragedy do not work. At the end Some over the top Hollywood like feelings do their work as a tearjerker. Finally it all fits together. Must be the reason for the Oscar. Everybody happy minus some dead people. For me this is one of the movies I do not remember after a year. Nothing new. Bit disappointing.

Wonderful movie. I was moved.

[shi612 · 10/10 · 8 March 2009]

Wonderful movie. I was moved. The subject of the movie is a profession called 'Nokanshi', which is to cleanse, dress and make up a corpse before it is placed in a coffin. Centered in this profession, the story is strong and understandable. All side stories are effectively woven. This movie taught me that death is not a simple end of life, but it could even trigger reconciliation of those who hate someone.

Everyone dislikes a job to touch corpses. Therefore the classified advertisement is vague and the job interview is precarious, and the protagonist is fooled to join this business. In the classified ad, it said 'Tabi no otetsudai (Assisting travels)', but the boss said it is a typo and he corrected it to 'Tabidachi no otetsudai (Assisting departures)'. Then the protagonist faces miserable debut scene with rotten corpse left 2 weeks after death. But there are many humorous scenes in the first half, audiences get drawn into the story. Then he experiences some impressive episodes of nokanshi's work, and his father who abandoned him is mentioned.

Normally I don't cry at movies. But in this movie tears filled my eyes at several scenes, though it is never a so-called tearjerker film.

As for acting performances, Motoki Masahiro's acting is marvelous as well as his performance as a nokanshi. Yamazaki Tsutomu is the best casting too. However, for the wife of the protagonist, I think Hirosue Ryoko is too pretty and girlish and her acting is shallow.

Falling to Kitsch

[yardenush · 7/10 · 12 September 2009]

It's a shame that a movie that so bravely and beautifully deals with the matter of death can also fall into such a low abyss of kitsch. I though the movies started beautifully. The scenes revolving around the traditional preparation of bodies for burial were so sensitively and beautifully presented, they almost felt magical. But then came scenes such as the "face appearing in the rock," or the cello playing scene which made me squirm in my seat. They were in my opinion almost gruesome in this context. It's troubling to me that such a movie with such evident flaws overtook Waltz with Bashir in the race for the Oscar....

A Beautiful and Full of Sentiments Story about Life and Death

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 18 August 2009]

In Tokyo, the violoncellist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) loses his job when the sponsor dissolves his orchestra. Deigo decides to return to his hometown Yamagata with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) to live in the house that his mother, who has just passed away, left for him. While seeking a job in the newspaper, he finds an advertisement entitled Departures in the NK Agency and he schedules an interview believing it is a travel agency. However, he finds out that the position is to work in a funeral business as a sort of undertaker that prepares the corpse for cremation and the afterlife. While Mika and his friends look down on his job, Daigo feels proud with the recognition of the families of the diseased persons with his work. When the owner of the bathhouse Tsurunoyu dies, Mika finally recognizes the beauty of the artistic work of Daigo. When they are informed that his absent father has died alone in a fishing village, Daigo resolves his innermost issues with him.

The winner of Best Foreign Language Film of 2009 "Okuribito" is a touching movie with a beautiful and full of sentiments story about life and death. The idea of death as a gateway to the afterlife has been explored in many movies; but in "Okuribito" it is disclosed in an artistic and beautifully sad way, through a dramatic and respectful but never corny relationship with the families of the diseased person. This wonderful movie was awarded with thirty-one (31) wins and three (3) nominations to several film festivals, and is supported by an original screenplay based on the rich Japanese culture that brings the most different and antagonistic feelings to the viewer; magnificent direction and performances of the lead and support cast; fantastic cinematography, lighting and art direction; and a stunning and stylish music score. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Partida" ("The Departure")

Far from a Departure in form from in a recent canon of decent Japanese films, this film's exploring of a man in a niche career makes for impressive viewing.

[johnnyboyz · 7/10 · 10 June 2011]

For a film so wholly indebted to death and the deceased, beginning with its title that alludes to such things and carrying on in the nature of what it is the lead eventually comes to do, it is quite remarkable just how celebratory of living Yôjirô Takita's Departures really is; a piece using these means and specific content more inclined towards those whom have passed as items for breathing life into a person's existence. Departures will eventually tell the story of a Japanese man seemingly approaching his middle age, as well as the apparent crisis on its way as a result of getting there, whom comes to find something totally out of the ordinary, and in a totally unexpected manner, which goes on to shift thinking's and attitudes for both himself and those around him, in what is a quite often fabulously played drama displaying a good eye for black comedy and rich character study.

Told in flashback, something I began as thinking was quite needless but brings certain resonances that creep up on you, the film documents a certain Daigo (Motoki); a Japanese man, of whom we sense is on the cusp of something big in his life, what with his partner; passions and skills he has in certain fields, but cannot quite pin down what. He is initially a cellist and a good cellist, but a redundant cellist after the principal of his orchestra announces, following a playing to a near empty auditorium we barely notice out of the fact the principal's pained expression dominates the screen, that the disbanding of the group is imminent. The following few sequences do very little to incline us into siding with Daigo; he slumps down at home in his charming Tokyo apartment and ponders, with his sizable instrument, just what it is he's going to do. His wife is the prim; softly spoken and rather sweet Mika (Hirosue), and she brings octopus back for dinner and tells him to cheer up 'cause he's still got her and her job brings in money and this nice apartment is still here and we all get to have exquisite seafood for dinner.

Decisions are made and the pair of them move to Daigo's hometown of childhood a fair distance away, in the more remoter regions of Japan; once there, the gunning for a job whose interview and house of operations is barely distinguishable from any other place of business, bar a couple of rather large caskets propped up against the side of the wall, plays out into the coming into contact with something thoroughly out of the ordinary. This new job is what appears to be a cross contamination between that of an undertaker and a maid; a job without, I don't think, a name in the English language – a job whose role it is to undergo a ritualistic process of smartly preparing a dead body, in-front of their family and loved ones, before placing them in their coffins for later funerals: it is a job that few desire and even fewer, it seems, look upon with anything more than mere scorn.

Early on, we feel this job exists merely to serve a purpose; that being, to pay the debts owed for the cost of his cello, a sum that, once eviscerated, will be able to see Daigo leave his post and start afresh with something else. This isn't necessarily the way, the film going on to document Daigo's exposure to such a career and his gradual coming to enjoy what it is he does in a refreshing fashion. When we first come to observe him in his new work surroundings, his employer Sasaki (Yamazaki) and the company's secretary appear odd or strange, even eccentric and whose socialism we don't wish to share. As expected, Daigo finds himself in the deep end early on, acting as an extra in a 'how-to' DVD giving way to his first call out with Sasaki seeing them deal with a body, whom has remained undiscovered for a fair while, acting as the inception into this chosen career. Daigo heads in, combating the sight of a dead body experienced for the first time as well as the terrible smell creating a putrid and somewhat unpleasant first exposure to things – all of it done and dealt with in a messy and comedic although significant manner.

Running parallel to the audience's own response to the material, in that at the beginning the majority of us feel alienated; perturbed and perhaps a little grossed out, Daigo's coming to enjoy what it is the film is about stands side by side to that of Mika's discovery; staunch rejection and then consequent realisation that the nature of the man's work is actually both rather brave; invigorating to watch and quietly fascinating without necessarily being morbidly so. Daigo's boss and his co-workers appear to become more normalised without ever actually changing their general characteristics, in what is a gleefully subtle addition to proceedings as mindsets change and frameworks play out.

Overlying everything is the fact that Daigo is a man whose prior exposure to death and the nature of grief has been largely negative thus far in his life; if not negative, then largely hollow, in that he missed his father's funeral on account of being oh, so very young and unable to attend for whatever reason, whereas the passing of his grandparents when he was still equally as young came and went without all those wondrous instances that time with grandparents can so often bring whilst a child. The error of Daigo's ways is in the dismissing of such things, the eventual job he acquires seeing him come to work with the deceased and, more important in this sense, those grieving before the understanding of the nature, or procession, of remembering one's dead that imbues this process is played out – the likes of which, with everything else, make for really involving viewing.

Anyone else think this was terrible?

[Ikiku · 2/10 · 30 August 2009]

I read through most of the external reviews I usually read - Ebert, The Village Voice etc., and looked through the user's comments... It seems everybody has been swept away by this tidal wave of schmaltz! I'm hoping it's simply that those who feel like me just haven't bothered to write. (Ebert has long become sentimental with age...) Isn't this film SO affected, so infantile in its sentimentality? Yes it has a core of beauty, and the potential for being a superb, emotionally devastating film. But it isn't. It's a waste of its material. The one positive element was the ceremony, which at certain moments in the film was protected by a tone of solemnity from the lavish, exaggerated, coarse emotional manipulation on a level with the sappiest soap opera. Another perhaps was the undertaker boss. How very sad. I wish a good director would do a remake and turn it into the polished gem it could have been. But as it is - how can so many people buy into this? Where are the critics??!

Lyrical Film About Finding Passion in an Unlikely Profession

[EUyeshima · 8/10 · 13 March 2010]

Without irony, there is a funereal grace to this 2009 dramedy, so much so that one can sometimes hear the distinct echoes of film master Yasujiro Ozu ("Tokyo Story") in director Yojiro Takita's subtle yet stately look at the business of preparing deceased bodies for their caskets. Ozu's influence can be felt most in the quietude of tone that reveals the inevitability of death with both grim humor and spiritual awakening. The film's lyricism rests on the mournful cello accompaniment of the protagonist, Daigo Kobayashi, a young cellist who finds himself jobless after his Tokyo-based orchestra is disbanded. Out of economic necessity, he and his sunny, supportive wife Mika move back to his late mother's house up north in Yamagata.

As outlined in Kundo Koyama's somewhat methodical screenplay, the story focuses on the challenge Daigo faces in finding one's place in life, no matter how dubious it may seem to others. Daigo, bereft of his passion, answers a job ad involving "departures", which leads him to believe the company is a travel agency. However, he quickly realizes the two-person operation is actually about preparing bodies for burial, ritually cleansing and cloaking them while the mourners watch. Initially aghast, he is convinced by the taciturn owner Mr. Sasaki that he is ideal for the role of assistant and offers him the job. He has to fight his own prejudices as well as others about the supposed unseemliness of his profession, including Mika, who finds out her husband's new profession and pronounces him unclean. Daigo, however, realizes he has found his passion in the pre-burial ceremony, and Sasaki teaches him the ropes in a way that recalls Juzo Itami's beloved 1985 comedy, "Tampopo".

Former boy-band singer Masahiro Motoki is genuinely affecting as Daigo, while Ryoko Hirosue brings a surprising layer of complexity to the perennially sunny Mika. The deadpan Tsutomu Yamazaki makes Sasaki the film's key gravitational element with a minimum of effort, while Kimiko Yo shows an offbeat quality as his office manager Yuriko. The cinematography by Takeshi Hamada is top-notch with some memorable images offered along the way (like Daigo playing his cello on a hilltop), and Joe Hisaishi's ("Kikujiro") music score allows dramatic sweep without getting too epic. On the downside, the film runs too long at 130 minutes, and there are moments when the comedy is played too broadly and the sentiment laid on too thick. Still, the movie shows Japanese cinema still exudes a unique identity, and there is global vitality still in that country's film industry. A brief interview with Takita is the major bonus on the 2010 DVD.

An oddly beautiful film about death....

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 1 January 2012]

I doubt that "Departures" would appeal to a mass audience. That's because while it is a beautiful and artistic film, it's also about death--a topic most folks are very hesitant to think about...let alone go to a theater to see. But, I strongly advise you to stick with the film--it's well worth seeing and I can see why this film received the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Daigo is a nice man. But, the orchestra in which he plays has been disbanded and he needs a job. He answers an ad in the newspaper for a job he THINKS has to do with a travel agency--not realizing that the job entails doing funeral rituals. Now this part of the film requires a bit of explaining, as such jobs are completely unknown in the USA. Instead of the mortician just picking up a dead body for burial (or cremation in most cases, as that is the Shinto tradition), there are people whose job it is to ritually prepare the corpse in front of the family--a strange way to handle a wake by Western standards. Now I am NOT being critical of this service--in the film, it had an odd sort of beauty and artistry about it. It's just very different from how death is handled in this and western countries. To understand exactly what I mean and what this process is, the film shows several such preparations by Daigo and his very likable boss. What happens next? See it for yourself.

Now HOW can this turn into a good film? Well, the movie found a way to balance all this--with respect for the dead, not making the film too graphic and maintaining a healthy respect for the characters. And, the final thing is the most important--as you really like and respect the characters. And, the film is chock full of wonderful supporting characters. Overall, it's a very sweet and gentle film--one you really have to make yourself watch. After all, death is just a natural part of life--and the film handles the topic wonderfully.