Come Academy Award time, Best Foreign Language Film is one of the hardest categories to predict. For one, many of the nominees have yet to be released in the United States, and two, the language barrier makes it difficult to predict how an English speaking audience will react to the film. When I made my predictions for 2008, I thought that The Class was a very strong contender, as was Waltz With Bashir. But when the trophy was handed out, it went to Japan’s Departures.
After seeing this film some four months after the Oscars, I have to agree with their choice. Departures is a wonderful film. It is the story of a young man who practiced his entire life to be a good enough musician to play the cello in a professional orchestra. After achieving his goal and spending a fortune on a exquisite new cello, it is announced that the orchestra is bankrupt and is being dissolved. With no other profession, skills, or talents, he returns to his boyhood home with his wife and claims the empty home left to him by his mother.
Once back in the country, Daigo’s wife sets up housekeeping, while he searches for a new job. After answering a newspaper ad, he mistakenly accepts a job in departures, thinking he’ll be a travel agent. But the ad should have read, working with the departed, since the job is performing coffining ceremonies, preparing the dead to be placed in coffins. At first he is repulsed and appalled, but after seeing the ceremony performed and the comfort given to all those involved, he realizes that his mentor is performing a tremendous and honorable service to both the dead and the living.
Departures is a beautiful, sensitive, film that examines our attitudes towards death. The care and sensitivity that these professionals give is seldom met with the respect they deserve. Once you’ve seen this film you will have a new found appreciation for those who serve us in our darkest time of need. This beautiful film should be seen by all, its rare dignity is totally uplifting and you will feel comforted that these professionals do exsist.
Rating: Must See This film sees death like a beautiful dance with music
About Me
- Melanie Wilson
- My Reviewer's Philosophy: I believe that every film has its audience. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My purpose is to help you spend your entertainment dollars wisely. A bad review never kept me from going to a film I wanted to see, but a good review will sometimes get me to a film I never considered. As a movie lover I want you to go to the movies. When more people go to the movies, the more movies get made. But, I also believe that if you enjoy the films you see, you naturally will be inclined to go more often. So join me in supporting our film industry by going to a movie today. Hopefully I can steer you towards a good one. See you at the movies. Melanie Wilson
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