I was searching for must-watch Japanese movie on Google and visited a few websites making a list. One movie that was in most of those lists is Yojiro Akita’s Departures, thus I had to watch it.
The movie’s duration is about 2 hours, with the main character being Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a guy in his 30s with a love for Cello. The movie revolves around Kobayashi as he lost his job in the orchestra and stumbles upon this job as a nōkanshi —a traditional Japanese ritual mortician, and the story then continues as he learned what it is to be a nōkanshi from both his mentor and employer, Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), and slowly discovers the meaning of relationship, and more importantly, life and death.
Departures did a really great job in presenting the story. The movie starts with Kobayashi deep in thoughts while on his way to an encoffining ritual (nōkan), before bringing us back to before it all started. The pace was also timed very well, making it very easy to follow the story. The highlight would have to be how Kobayashi’s job as a mortician is illustrated so beautifully and elegantly. Also, this movie succeed in connecting us emotionally not only with Kobayashi through all his hardships and journey, but also with the other characters as we were given a glimpse of their story and perspective.
What made this movie so good was the actor’s great acting, as they each embodied their characters so well, Motoki and Yamazaki especially. Kobayashi’s character is sort of the clueless but optimistic guy, and Yamazaki is the composed, wise mentor. I also like how dialogue is used sparingly in this movie, how each and every line plays an important role. A lot of them are smart and witty, my favourite would be when Sasaki and Kobayashi first met during the interview, where Sasaki responded to Kobayashi’s question with: “You ask funny questions, don’t you?”
Visually, I love the faded look of this movie, as it has that soft, warm palette. Also, since there are not much dialogues, it was a great visual experience. There are lots of beautiful nature shots, but the highlight has to be the visual experience of witnessing so closely the encoffining process the death, which is presented so beautifully with so much details. Despite the fact that a corpse is involved in the process, my curiosity and fascination beats my natural sense of disgust.
Lastly, this movie tells a wonderful story of love, dream, life and death. It is an engaging visual and emotional journey, and I enjoyed every scene. Akita did a really great job with directing, as it is so well presented. Departures received numerous awards, and I can definitely see why. I highly recommend this movie!
