Moving, engaging, thought-provoking movie

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2018)

When his orchestra is dissolved, cellist Daigo Kobayashi is left unemployed. He and his wife move back to his home town where he answers a job ad, working with 'Departures'. He gets and takes the job, thinking it's a travel agency, but it turns out it involves preparing people for cremation or burial. Is he cut out for this and what will his wife and friends think?
Great movie. Engaging story, as we follow Daigo and how his unexpected, and largely unwanted, role changes his life. Quite emotional as we see the effect his work has on people, how people respond to knowing this is the last they'll see of a loved one and how death can leave to recriminations and falling outs among family and friends.
Thought-provoking, as we are left to ponder our own lives and how we handle death.
Won the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2009.