Departures
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User Rating
Current user rating: 92% (7 votes)
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Profile
- Movie: Departures / Good & Bye
- Romaji: Okuribito
- Japanese: おくりびと
- Director: Yojiro Takita
- Writer: Kundo Koyama
- Producer: Yasuhiro Mase
- Cinematographer Takeshi Hamada
- Release Date: September 13, 2008
- Runtime: 130 min.
- Studio: Shochiku
- Distributor: Shochiku
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Plot
Daigo Kobayashi, who was a cellist in an orchestra which had just been dissolved, suddenly is thrown out onto the streets without a job and hope for life. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife. However, his life is revived when he starts working as an "encoffineer." He cleans up the body, places the dead into the coffin, and sends the dead to the next world in the best way possible… he is the gatekeeper between life and death. The job is despised by his wife and the people around him, but through the "Deaths" that he encounters, he finally starts to find what "Life" is all about.
Notes
- Departures has won numerous awards including best picture at 32nd Japan Academy Awards and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards.
Cast
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| Masahiro Motoki | Ryoko Hirosue | Kazuko Yoshiyuki | Kimiko Yo | Takashi Sasano | Tsutomu Yamazaki |
| Daigo Kobayashi | Mika Kobayashi | Tsuyako Yamashita | Yuriko Uemura | Shyokichi Uehara | Sasaki Namaei |
Additional Cast Members:
- Tatsuo Yamada
- Tetta Sugimoto
- Yuuki Ogoe
- Toru Minegishi
- Yukiko Tachibana
- Tatsuhito Okuda
- Hiroyuki Kishi
Trailer (Japan)
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Trailer (U.S.)
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Image Gallery
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Film Festivals
- 2008 (13th) Pusan International Film Festival - October 2nd-10th - A Window on Asian Cinema
- 2008 (28th) Hawaii International Film Festival - October 9th-19th
- 2009 (11th) Deauville Asian Film Festival - March 11th-15th - The Panorama
- 2009 (11th) Udine Far East Film - April 24th-May 2nd (Italian Premiere)
Awards
- 2008 (33rd) Hochi Film Awards - November 2008
- Best Picture
- 2008 (21st) Nikkan Sports Film Awards - December 2008
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- 2009 (32nd) Japan Academy Prize - February 20th
- Best Picture
- Best Director - Yojiro Takita
- Best Leading Actor - Masahiro Motoki
- Best Supporting Actor - Tsutomu Yamazaki
- Best Supporting Actress - Kimiko Yo
- Best Screenplay - Kundo Koyama
- Best Lighting - Hitoshi Takaya
- Best Sound Recording - Satoru Ozaki
- Best Editing - Akimasa Kawashima
- Best Cinematography - Takeshi Hamada
- 2009 (81st) Academy Awards - February 22nd
- Best Foreign Language Film
- 2009 (3rd) Asian Film Awards - March 23rd
- Best Actor Masahiro Motoki
- 2009 (11th) Udine Far East Film - April 24th-May 2nd
- Audience Award (1st place)
- Black Dragon Audience Award (1st place)
- 2009 (3rd) Asia Pacific Screen Awards - November 26th
- Best Performance by an Actor - Masahiro Motoki
Comments
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Nalyah Says:
Jun 16 2009 10:30 am
“Departures” is a very touching drama. The main character is struggling throughout the movie with his relationships towards his dad, mother, wife and himself. While looking for his aim in life he found his place in a quite strange place. “Seeing off the dead” gave him a new insight on his life, marriage and parents. In the end he found his way back also to his childhood dream- cello, which he thought he had given up on.
The scenes and acting were accompanied by wonderful music and this movie is gonna stay in my mind for long time.
lunapark6.com Says:
Mar 29 2009 9:31 pm
“Departures” is the rare film that successfully combines aspects of a commercial film, art house film, light comedy & heavy drama (pertaining to family & death). The film recently received a surprise boost in recognition by winning the “Best Foreign Language Film” at this year’s Academy Awards. The film already achieved stellar box office results when it first screened in Japan this past September and is currently screening for the second time in Japan after winning the Academy Awards. U.S. distributor Regent Releasing is also planning to distribute the film in select U.S. cities starting this May.
Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is an aspiring cellist newly hired by a symphony in Tokyo. No sooner than Daigo’s first performance with the orchestra he receives the devastating news that the orchestra will be disbanded. Daigo made the fateful decision to mortgage his future by purchasing a cello that cost well over $100,000. Now he has to break the news to his faithful wife (Ryoko Hirosue). When she asks Daigo what his plans are now, he suggests they move back to his rural hometown Yamagata and start over again. Daigo’s wife smiles and agrees to follow him to Yamagata.
After the couple settles into their new home, Daigo looks for a job. He finds a listing in the newspaper advertising a position that requires little hours, no experience, and centers around helping out others on their journeys. Daigo assumes the position is for a travel agent, but when he arrives at the office, he realizes the job is for an “encoffineer” (Nokanshi) - similar to an embalmer in the U.S., but requires the encoffineer to work in front of the deceased in a ceremony steeped in tradition. The job of an “encoffineer” is not a popular one in Japan and people often look down on the job as dirty. Daigo tries to keep his job secret, but soon rumors spreads around the small town. When Daigo’s wife learns of his new job, she gives him the ultimatum to quit his job or she’ll leave him.
“Departures” isn’t a heavy film per se, but it does eloquently examine the effects of death as it relates to those closest to the deceased. The film also respectfully showcases the art found in the encoffineer’s work. This is particularly important to the Japanese, as the movie portrays the common perception of these workers as people who are reviled. Masahiro Motoki always uses his hands as gracefully applying make-up on the deceased as he does when playing the cello. The message that comes out loud and clear is that the work performed by encoffineers are as artful as classical music. Departures also brings to light the importance of living life to the fullest as well as the importance of forgiveness. In one particularly moving scene, Daigo Kobayashi and his wife watches from the distance as a lady he has known all his life ends her journey, while a worker at the funeral home remarks that it feels like her journey is about to begin.
Performances all around are excellent, with nary a single shabby performance found in the movie. Masahiro Motoki obviously takes center stage and impresses throughout the movie (especially so when you compare his brilliant performance in “Departures” with his lifeless turn in last year’s “The Longest Night in Shanghai”). Ryoko Hirosue is cute as button in the film and the manner in which she always accepts Daigo’s ways until placing her placing foot firmly down when it comes to his new job works wonderfully to drive home the stigma carried by encoffineers. Tsutomu Yamazaki also brought out a lot of color, without ever saying a whole lot, in his supporting role as Daigo’s mentor and boss. At times, Tsutomu Yamazaki’s character felt like a continuation of his role from “Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World.”
Although it would have been so easy for “Departures” to lay on the sappiness, the picture always opts for the graceful route as it tells its powerful tale about life, death, and awakening. A large cross-generational group of viewers will likely find the movie inspirational. Although I don’t feel “Departures” is even the best Japanese film of the year (my vote would go to Tokyo Sonata), it’s still nice to find the Academy Awards bring to light such a strong Japanese film for the masses.