Mediocre

Rating: 6/10 (7 February 2010)

Last year's Best Foreign Film winner at the Academy Awards. It's exactly the kind of film they like: sweet, simple and uninspired. Seriously, Japan can do so much better than this. Masahiro Motoki (great in Tsukamoto's Gemini and Miike's The Bird People in China) stars as an out-of-work cellist who takes a job at a funeral home. Those who prepare the dead in Japan have historically been met with great prejudices. People just don't trust people in Japan who touch the dead and make their living off of misery. So Motoki fights prejudice, even loses his wife (the adorable Ryoko Hirosue) for a while. Eventually, he discovers that the service he is providing is valuable and helps people. The film isn't bad, really. It's just nothing special and occasionally schmaltzy. The only thing I really liked was Jo Hisaishi's musical score. There's one piece during a montage that's especially killer.