Product Description

When his orchestra disbands, Daigo Kobayashi moves back to his hometown and takes a job preparing corpses for burial. Too embarrassed to admit his new career to his family, Daigo keeps his profession a secret, until he’s faced with the death of someone close to him. Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1169 in DVD
• Brand: E1
• Released on: 2010-01-12
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.com
Departures is surely the gentlest, sweetest movie about death that you will ever see. A cellist named Diago (Masahiro Motoki) comes to the rueful conclusion that he’s not talented enough to make a career as a musician; having just returned to his hometown with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue, Wasabi), he answers a job ad for what he thinks must be a travel agency... only to discover that company prepares bodies to be placed in coffins. Fearful of his wife’s response, he hides his new job--but as he grows to appreciate his boss (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Tampopo) and the affect that the humbling ceremony of cleaning and dressing the deceased has on their families, Diago discovers that he might have a calling. Departures won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and it’s easy to understand why. Though it starts out quietly and even seems slight, it gradually builds in emotional power, layer by layer, until scene after scene at the end is richly moving. Particularly affecting is the performance of Kimiko Yo, the secretary of the company, who harbors a troubling secret. A few moments of overt symbolism push the movie from compassion to sentimentality--but every time Departures seems to have lost its footing, a scene follows that strikes all the right notes so deftly it resonates like a bell. A truly marvelous movie. --Bret Fetzer

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Customer Reviews

"Departures": A Moving Drama with Humor and Pathos
The original Japanese title of "Departures" (2008) is "Okuribito" which means literally "a person who sends" in Japanese or in this case, "encoffiner," a person who performs a ritual at funeral before putting the body into a coffin. But you should not let the film's subject matter put you off watching the film because "Departures" offers a fascinating insight into life and death as well as a moving drama with universal themes. And believe me or not, it is also a comedy.

Yes, "Departures" begins with an amusing scene in which young okuribioto Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is about to perform the ritual for the first time without a help from his employer and senior okuribito Ikuei Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki). But in the midst of the solemn rite, Daigo notices something unexpected about the body. Not knowing what to do, Daigo asks for Ikuei's advice, but for what?

After the opening sequence that sets the overall tone of the entire film with the low-key comic approach, "Departures" follows the story of Daigo, formerly a cello player by profession, who starts to work as okuribito (formally called "nokanshi") in his hometown. During the film's two hours we are introduced to the work of nokanshi, which can be very hard at times, but the Oscar-winning film is also a great success as a touching drama about an ordinary man who discovers the meaning of his life through deaths.

Though some part of the script looks rather conventional, "Departures" benefits from the fine cast who has successfully become believable characters you can relate to. Masahiro Motoki is very good as the mild-mannered protagonist and so is Ryoko Hirosue (seen in "Wasabi" opposite Jean Reno) as his loving wife, but the film's best performance is that of veteran Tsutomu Yamazaki (Juzo Itami's "The Funeral"), whose slightly enigmatic character adds humor and humanity to the story as quiet employer (and mentor-like figure) of Daigo.

Shot in several locations (mainly Sakata City and Tsuruoka City) in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, "Departures" has stunningly beautiful scenes of the country, especially the one in which Daigo plays the cello against the snow-capped Mt. Chokai. Also, composer Jo Hisaishi (best known for Hayao Miyazaki's acclaimed animated films) gives a powerful and emotional musical score.

There is no word in English that exactly describes what a "nokanshi" does. He is not a mortician or embalmer, and not every funeral in Japan is attended by a nokanshi. I am Japanese, but I never even heard of the name before watching the film. Interestingly it is star Masahiro Motoki who thought of making a movie about nokanshi. According to the interview with him (in a pamphlet I bought at the theater in Kyoto), Motoki was inspired by his experiences in India and one book written by a real-life nokanshi. The book (though not credited in the film) is "Nokanhu Nikki" ("Diary of a Nokanhu") by Shinmon Aoki published in 1993. It took more than ten years for him to realize his idea of making this film and I am sure the wait was more than worth it.

In "Departures" director Yojiro Takita ("Onmyoji") did a fine job of telling a good story with just the right amount of sentiment, humor and pathos. I hope that you will enjoy watching "Departures" as I did.

A film that depicts the dignity & value of human life
This movie is well-deserving of the Academy Award this past year for the Best Foreign Film. Though this movie talks about death and the vocation of "encoffining" (a ceremony ritual where the deceased is washed and dressed up in beautiful make-up and clothing to make it easier for surviving family members to pay their last respects) -- it is really about the celebration of the dignity and value of human life. We all have to die sometime but how do you help grieving family members to pay their last respects to their loved one with dignity and respect?

Many of the reviewers have done a great job of summarizing the story. I want to bring out some of the wonderful themes in this movie.

1) The dignity and value of human life -- seldom in a movie have I been touched by the message of how valuable a human life is. The vocation of encoffining was despised by the people in the film. Daigo also despised it at first, but then he got to see how important this vocation is -- how it is a different way to pursue an art and a science. In the beginning, Daigo tries to be a professional cellist -- playing the cello well is an art and a science. As he begins to get more involved in encoffining with the mentorship and coaching of his boss, he gets to see that encoffining is a very noble vocation -- the whole goal is to help grieving families to say goodbye to their loved one with dignity and respect. The grieving families get to see the bodies of their loved ones treated with tender affection and displayed in a beautiful way. As Daigo discovers, along with people close to him, "encoffining" is just as much an art and a science as playing the cello, but with even more impact for humanity. The first and last scenes of the movie are fitting bookends.

2. Reconciliation and acceptance -- The movie also shows the powerful impact of reconciliation and acceptance, as Daigo discovers in the film. Sadly, some of the characters in the film had a hard time to accept family members while they were alive, but the graceful and beautiful encoffining ritual helped them to see the deceased family member in a new light. There was reconciliation and acceptance that finally took place.

3. The breaking down of stereotypes -- One of the wonderful aspects of this film is the portrayal of stereotypes and how they are dismantled. The typical Japanese person has the negative stereotype of the vocation of encoffining as "dirty". However, when they get to see how important encoffining is to help family members pay their last respects to their loved ones, and witness the beauty and grace of the ceremony, their stereotypes are broken down, and they come to see the nobility of this profession. We all have negative stereotypes either of people or vocations, but when we become better informed and reach more accurate understanding, our negative stereotypes are broken down, and we become more respectful and accepting of other people who are different than us. We come to see that the great majority of vocations are very noble in their own right.

4. The importance of telling loved ones how much they mean to you when they're still alive. As Daigo gets more contacts and more work in encoffining, he begins to see the importance of telling his loved ones how much they mean to him. One of the most touching moments in the film is when Daigo clings to his wife and tells her non-verbally how much he loves her. After dealing with death on a daily basis, he comes to recognize how important his loved ones are in real life. He comes to treasure life and the lives of his loved ones.

There are excellent reviews written by the others who have so eloquently described this film. I wanted to share with you how I was moved by the positive themes that were expressed in such a graceful and artful way by this remarkable film.

This is a movie that will move you deeply and touch your soul. You'll remember this film for a long time. Highly recommended!

A Journey with Dearh
"Departures"

A Journey with Death

Amos Lassen

Oscar winner for best foreign film 2009, "Departures" is the story of Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a cellist in an orchestra that has been dissolved and he finds himself without a job. He decides to move back to his home town with his wife and to begin searching for work. He answers an ad, "Departures" assuming it as an advertisement for a travel agency but what he discovers is that the job is for a funeral professional who prepares dead bodies for both burial and for the next life. He loves and takes great pride in this job even though his wife and friends hate it. He looks at this job as being a gatekeeper between those that have died and their families and through his job he discovers the wonder and joy of being alive.
Most people look down on those who earn money from death as Daigo, himself, did at first. Little by little, he comes to a new understanding of his own life and he draws us in. We also learn about a wonderful ceremony and it is incredible to watch as the undertaker handles the corpse with complete and total care and reverence and precision. How many of us are really aware what goes on as a corpse is prepared for burial and as we see this we gain a new respect for those that prepare the dead.
Death, as we see it here, is a step toward another world and even though this is a Buddhist ideal, we can all relate to it especially if we have lost someone that we have loved.
This could very easily have become a movie that abounds with sentimentality but the it does not, It plays with our emotions without overt manipulation. Motoki turns in a brilliant performance which both makes us laugh and has us understand inner turmoil. We see the real pain of death as it stays with those who remain alive, the mourners. It is rituals like what we see in "Departures" that comfort and enchant us and see us through the pain of loss. The movie will male you laugh and make you cry and it is played against a beautiful and intriguing orchestral score.