David O'ConnellDepartures
October 19th 2009 04:05
A surprise Oscar winner earlier this year for best Foreign Film, Yojiro Takita’s Departures is undeniably one of the most moving, reverential films ever made about death and the first stages of grieving. There’s a poetic, almost transcendental power in the way this film reveals the methodical, enlightened way the Japanese prepare the departed for the next phase of their spiritual journey.
When his Tokyo orchestra is dissolved, cellist Daigo Kobayashi (Mashiro Motoki) decides to return to his home town with accommodating wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) to settle in the modest home bequeathed to him by his late mother. In need of funds he thinks he’s found a decent employment prospect requiring no prior experience in the local paper; the vague heading mentions ‘Departures’ leading Daigo to suspect a travel agency of some description.
Instead he discovers the firm specialises in the preparation of bodies for their 'encoffination'; this is a horrifying prospect for a man with a weak stomach and whose never seen a dead body before. Under the tutelage of his superior Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) - who employs Daigo on the spot, sensing his appearance as fateful - he manages to get by, despite a rocky first encounter with a new 'client' which has him on the verge of regurgitating his most recent meal in a tidal wave!
Possibly the most interesting aspect of the plot is the scorn and derision Daigo receives for taking the job; it's seen as a lowly, unworthy vocation and eventually drives a wedge between he and Mika, whom he hides the truth from initially; when she learns the true nature of his work, she declares him 'unclean' before heading back to Tokyo for a large chunk in the film's middle section.
External to the work that invigorates the initially reluctant Daigo, neither Mika nor the others can comprehend the grace, dignity and sense of privelege with which these men perform their duties. It becomes much more than work, and combined with Joe Hisaishi’s refined but heart-melting score, Takita and screenwriter Kundo Koyama do an expert job at illustrating every meticulous, serene stage of the transformations.
All the performances are strong, helping make the characters relatable. Motoki carries the load admirably as the adaptable Daigo who shares plenty of wryly humourous moments with the endearingly irascible Sasaki. Perhaps Mika is the least interesting character, her unconditional sacrifice of her own career for Daigo's sake a little unconvincing.
You could argue there's a level of simplicity in the writing, in the way the relationships lack any profound development; combined with the blatant adornment of sentimentality, that may undermine some people's assessment. But you'd have to be made out of rock to turn aside from the deeply-ingrained richness at the heart of the film.
At 130 minutes, Departures may have benefited from trimming too; a subplot involving Daigo’s father who abandoned him as a child receives an all-too-convenient resolution, and feels tacked on at the end. But there’s no doubting the overwhelming emotional grip the film sustains; scenes that would normally be considered difficult to watch are very sensitively handed, elegiac at times, with some well-placed comical vignettes to soften the underlying seriousness. It may not be a classic for the ages or the type of heavyweight drama we associate with the tag of Oscar winner, but this is a sublimely worthy achievement nonetheless.
Trailer is here.
When his Tokyo orchestra is dissolved, cellist Daigo Kobayashi (Mashiro Motoki) decides to return to his home town with accommodating wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) to settle in the modest home bequeathed to him by his late mother. In need of funds he thinks he’s found a decent employment prospect requiring no prior experience in the local paper; the vague heading mentions ‘Departures’ leading Daigo to suspect a travel agency of some description.
Instead he discovers the firm specialises in the preparation of bodies for their 'encoffination'; this is a horrifying prospect for a man with a weak stomach and whose never seen a dead body before. Under the tutelage of his superior Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) - who employs Daigo on the spot, sensing his appearance as fateful - he manages to get by, despite a rocky first encounter with a new 'client' which has him on the verge of regurgitating his most recent meal in a tidal wave!
Possibly the most interesting aspect of the plot is the scorn and derision Daigo receives for taking the job; it's seen as a lowly, unworthy vocation and eventually drives a wedge between he and Mika, whom he hides the truth from initially; when she learns the true nature of his work, she declares him 'unclean' before heading back to Tokyo for a large chunk in the film's middle section.
External to the work that invigorates the initially reluctant Daigo, neither Mika nor the others can comprehend the grace, dignity and sense of privelege with which these men perform their duties. It becomes much more than work, and combined with Joe Hisaishi’s refined but heart-melting score, Takita and screenwriter Kundo Koyama do an expert job at illustrating every meticulous, serene stage of the transformations.
Daigo (Mashiro Motoki) takes over from his boss Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki)
All the performances are strong, helping make the characters relatable. Motoki carries the load admirably as the adaptable Daigo who shares plenty of wryly humourous moments with the endearingly irascible Sasaki. Perhaps Mika is the least interesting character, her unconditional sacrifice of her own career for Daigo's sake a little unconvincing.
You could argue there's a level of simplicity in the writing, in the way the relationships lack any profound development; combined with the blatant adornment of sentimentality, that may undermine some people's assessment. But you'd have to be made out of rock to turn aside from the deeply-ingrained richness at the heart of the film.
At 130 minutes, Departures may have benefited from trimming too; a subplot involving Daigo’s father who abandoned him as a child receives an all-too-convenient resolution, and feels tacked on at the end. But there’s no doubting the overwhelming emotional grip the film sustains; scenes that would normally be considered difficult to watch are very sensitively handed, elegiac at times, with some well-placed comical vignettes to soften the underlying seriousness. It may not be a classic for the ages or the type of heavyweight drama we associate with the tag of Oscar winner, but this is a sublimely worthy achievement nonetheless.
Daigo with wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue)
Trailer is here.
| 56 |
| Vote |
Comment by MelGee
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic