Very sad look into Japanese culture

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2012)

Views into cultures that visitors cannot experience are fascinating. Quickly reading the description of the film from the DVD jacket - I thought it was going to about the cello player and his family. Wow - was I wrong. However, the film is an accurate view into the stoic, unemotional Japanese persona. This was a hard film to watch. The marriage of the main character, young, attractive, healthy - is unconnected. They barely touch. They talk in generalities about unimportant things and never about what each is feeling. As the main character begins his journey into a new line of work - after being laid off from the symphony - we see how the Japanese face funerals without shedding a tear, silent. The 'coffiners' are more human, treat the deceased with more love, tenderness than we ever see the live people show each other. This somehow gives the mourners permission to allow themselves to show their sadness, their tears. This is not an action movie - don't watch it if you are sleepy or want to vege out and be entertained. This movies will take attention and your thoughts will wander to your own or loved ones mortality/death. It does not have any scenes of violence or grossness - CSI shows way more of the dead bodies. It is not a 'happy' movie - it will generate conversations.