Film Festival 09 - Departures
Departures
Okuribito, Japan 2008, 131m
Director: Takita Yojiro
Festivals: Montreal World 2008; Tribeca 2009
Academy Award, Best Foreign Language Film 2009
Departures, winner of this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is a
beautifully performed character study of a man who finds
fulfillment and a depth of human connection in the most unlikely
profession. Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and
moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is
cheaper. Thinking he's applying for a job at a travel agency he
finds he's being interviewed for work with departures of a more
permanent nature - as an undertaker's assistant. Little by little
he warms to his new profession, endowing the elaborate funeral
ceremonies with grace and humanity. Director Takita, whose origins
are in much more commercially robust territory, brings good humour
to the social awkwardness his protagonist encounters and to his
struggle to win round his mortified wife. Motoki Masahiro's
delicately shaded entrancement in the lead role enacts the rituals
of farewell with an eloquence that crosses cultures. - BG
In Japanese with English subtitles
