Departures おくりびと (2008) - Over-sentimentality isn't always a bad thing.

Yōjirō Takita's 2008 film Departures had the potential to be a very dark exploration or death and grieving within Japan. Instead, what it is, is  slightly comedic, heartfelt examination of life, viewed through the eyes of a man in something of a desperate situation. When Daigo (Motoki Masahiro) loses his job as a cello player in a traditional orchestra he immediately goes out in search of a new job, a search made difficult by his lack of formal education. When he sees an add the the paper for a company titled 'departures' he applies with a sense of enthusiasm assuming it to be a travel agency. He is shocked to find that it is in fact a traditional Japanese encoffinment business, who essentially provide traditional style preparations and funerals (which entails cleaning and dressing the deceased in front of the family). The movie does this in a respectful and light-hearted way, placing in a little bit of black humour, but with a strong somber overtone.

Departures is perhaps, like a lot of contemporary Japanese cinema: a little sentimental. It deliberately uses devices (many in the scoring department) that fall into cliche emotional responses. The difference is that they are generally extremely effective in Departures, despite their contrived nature you will still feel your heart strings being plucked. Takita took 10 years to make this movie and it shows. The shots are masterfully configured, with a beautiful cinematography that certainly goes above and beyond the call of what a movie like this would have required. It looks beautiful and the sets are dressed beautifully, the score masterfully composed. It won Best foreign language film at the 2009 Oscars and won 9 domestic Japanese Oscars, so it is safe to say that this movie is considered to be of a high professional pedigree.


When I first saw this movie I felt absolutely enthralled. The encoffinment concept had deterred my family from watching it with me, but let me insist that it is in no way off-putting and is done in such a way that it is not going to make you cringe or feel unpleasant in the slightest. The movie is filled with heart warming little moments and the romance between Daigo and his wife Mika (Ryōko Hirosue) is nice and really could have comprised a bigger focus then it did. If you are not going to read into the cliches too much and you like Japanese cinema, this one is definitely worth a look.


Departures is available on dvd at some locations.