Absolutely Beautiful and Sublime

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2009)

Fortunately for me, this film had won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. If not, I may not have even known about this masterpiece of modern Japanese cinema. I have seen two of the other nominees, "The Class" and "Waltz with Bashir" both of whom are excellent as well. But "Departures" definitely deserves the honor of winning.
Kobayashi Daigo is a young cellist who just lost his job as the his orchestra in Tokyo was disbanded. He decides to leave city life behind and bring his wife back to his hometown. There he answers a want ad which he thought was for a travel agency. But it turns out, the "journeys" handled by this firm is of the eternal kind. Despite his initial aversion to the job, Daigo learns to love and be very good with the Japanese rite of "encoffining", or preparing the dead body for the casket.
With this rather moribund premise, the director Yojiro Takita was able to weave a most interesting and touching film experience to enthrall us all. It is both funny and sad. It is both entertaining and informative. It is a movie that proudly exhibits the uniquely Japanese rites of enconffining (nokanshi). Yet it is also universal in its celebration of the spirit of reconciliation between family members.
The cinematography is masterful, managing to be both majestic and intimate in the appropriate scenes. The music soundtrack, especially the cello playing, is excellent and evocative. The lead actor (Masahiro Motoki) is very effective in showing the maturation of Daigo in his craft and in his life. Daigo and his wife Mika make quite a (excuse the word) "cute" couple (looking like a typical young Asian telenovela love team), who also mature in their relationship. The climactic scenes of Daigo and his father are heart-wrenching yet uplifting, and handled with utmost love and respect. This is most definitely a most beautiful and sublime movie, not to be missed.