Departures (2008)

• Year: 2008
• Released: 19 Jun 2009
• Country: Japan
• Adwords: Won 1 Oscar. 40 wins & 12 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1069238/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/departures
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/departures
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Japanese
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama, Music
• Runtime: 130 min
• Writer: Kundô Koyama
• Director: Yôjirô Takita
• Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki
• Keywords: musical, dying and death, funeral, based on memoir or autobiography, coffin,

	8.0/10
	68/100

Departures Storyline

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a “Nokanshi” or “encoffineer,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of “Nokanshi,” acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

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Departures Movie Reviews

the rituals that sustain us

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.

An oddly beautiful film about death….

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.

A stunning tour-de-force

A subtle, evocative story about a former cellist who takes on a new job arranging the bodies of the dead for cremation, DEPARTURES is a truly exceptional film. There haven’t been many films made about ‘death’, per se – apart from endless horror flicks of course – but this one tackles the subject in a mature and moving way, quickly establishing itself as a favourite of mine.

The excellent Masahiro Motoki grounds the film with his captivating turn as a man who takes up a new career despite his inhibitions and soon finds himself in many unfamiliar situations. Some of the material is played for black comedy, but the story gradually becomes more involved and it builds up to a truly tragic and breathtaking climax, while all the while remaining subtle and slow-paced. No mean feat, that.

Yojiro Takita’s expert direction and a cast giving plenty of assured performances help to make this a unique and compelling film and one that’s guaranteed to make anyone who sees it shed a tear, particularly if they’ve experienced the death of a loved one. Not an easy film to watch then, but one that proves endlessly rewarding for those who are prepared to watch it.