Departures (2008)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Just perfect...

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Departures isn't going to be my favorite movie of all times, in fact I would place in towards the bottom of my list. The movie depicts a young married man who lost his job as a cello player in an orchestra, but he needs to find a job soon. An NK departure agent isn't a glamorous job, in fact it's a job that nobody really wants. First off the main character, Diago doesn't look like the right person for the job, but that kinda is the point. To me it just doesn't look right and I think it would be better if Diagonal was a little older. My second problem with the film is the fact that it was so slow. There wasn't any action and day in and day out, they just went to funerals. I know that's what the film is really about, but it would be nice if they could put in a little bit more action.

Departures is an international film from South Korea. The film is about a Korean man who works in the orchestra as a cello player, but when the orchestra goes out of business, the man, Daigo, is forced to move home. He ends up getting a job where he does the burial proceedings. He is hesitant at first, but ends up realizing that this job is his calling. Overall, this movie was quite good and very entertaining. I would rate this film a 4.5 out of 5. Although, this film is quite different compared to American films. For example it is very slow in comparison, so if you are looking for an action packed movie this is not the one for you. However, this is a very entertaining film and a must watch. It provides laughs, drama, and feel-good moments.

I really liked this film, despite some confusing elements and details. I liked it because I have never seen anything like this. It was on a taboo subject; death and funerals. It was really amazing to me to see the different traditions when a loved one dies in Japan, taking into account religion compared to the US. In some ways, I wish that we embraced deaths little more, and were not as uncomfortable with people dying as we are. I found that in Japan, the family is more touchy with the body, which makes more sense to me than how we are (which is hesitant) because we once loved these people! This movie makes me remember that death is just a part of life, and is okay. Like the main character, Daigo, said "What's wrong with it!? Death is just a part of life! You will die, and so will I!" I liked this part of the film because it's when his wife found out that he was an NK Agent and she was disgusted. I liked how Daigo stood up for himself and insisted that it's really not that weird, since death is so common and they are people we love. Personally, I do not frown upon morticians, death ceremony leaders, etc., because I think that it's a brave thing to do, and to frown upon this is a bit rude to the deceased. In my opinion, just because a loved one is dead doesn't mean that we should become hesitant around them during funeral ceremonies. The parts that were a bit confusing about this movie were the parts with the salmon and octopus. I thought it was a little confusing at the beginning when they were prepping the body and it came out that the person that had died was transgender. I only found this confusing because I don't think it was relevant to the movie, and since this was the very first scene, I thought maybe it would tie together in the end, but it didn't. Other than these parts, I thought the story line was really interesting and I loved the ending.

It's very surprising to see a movie about the taboo practice of encoffinment, become so university praise by critics. You would think, this movie would, fall under the radar of American & Japanese society, because of the dark subject matter; however, this movie became one of the highest-grossing domestic Japanese films of that year. It was even, a bigger hit international abroad; winning many awards from critics like the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2009. However, for me, I saw it as a one-time watch. A good movie worth checking out, but not worth revisiting, time after time, again. Loosely based on 'Coffinman', a memoir by Shinmon Aoki, and originally titled "Okuribito" means "the sending away"; Departures follows the story of a young man, Kobayashi Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as a nōkanshi—a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice from those around him, including from his family and friends, because of strong social taboos against people who deal with death. Eventually he must try to earn their respect and learns the importance of interpersonal connections through the beauty and dignity of his work. Can Kobayashi Daigo achieve that or will he be disconnect from his family & friends for the rest of his life? Watch the movie to find out, if you want to! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this movie by director Takita Yojiro was very informative to how Japanese culture prepare their dead for the afterlife. This is pretty much, the main appeal of the film for me. To see, what steps, it takes for them to prepare their dead is very interesting; and I'm not known for having a morbid curiosity for such things. You really do learn, a lot about Japanese culture, by watching this. However, besides those, the movie doesn't have much, going for itself. Yes, the classical cello music by composer Joe Hisaishi was indeed beautiful to hear and some of the film is very well-shot, but as a main stream appeal; it doesn't really have some. It's morbid curiosity at its best. I really don't know, if American audiences would revisited this film, time after time, again like me. After all, the film moves in a somewhat slow, heavy-handed, and predictable pace. In my opinion, the conventional simple story is a little too-stretch out. The result of this, cause the movie to falls into a pit full of pointless filler scenes in the second act. Even, the third act, break up is very clichés. You can see it, coming from a mile away. However, most of the changes from the novel, in the climax for the film, was well-written and perform. I love the ending with the message stone. It was somewhat redeeming and heart-warming. As much, as it's sounding like, I didn't like the movie, I honestly did love it. The actors in the film are all, well-played. One thing, I'm pretty glad, the movie has, is English subtitles then English dubbing, because I would hate to see the movie suffer from bad lip sync. The subtitles really help a lot, because some of these rituals can seem somewhat confusing. After all, there are not many people that eat live squids, go to bath houses and drink Japanese tea in rituals ceremony, here in the States. It was nice to try to understand, such practices. I also kinda glad, the movie had some lighten moments. A good example is when Kobayashi and his boss, Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) are cleaning a body that they thought was a woman, but they find out, it's a man. However, one thing, worth noticing, about Japanese humor is how that joke and many after that, doesn't have that much of a punch-line, because the film tries too hard to be respectful. I think, this film would work, better, if they allow more leeway in how they were able to portray the dead. Maybe there was a little too much calming, hypnotic grace with this PG-13 film. It mask people's fears, too much that humor and drama can't really shine through. I think this is why, the movie kinda suffers, when it comes to rewatch value. Maybe, it could had work better, as an R-Rated film, but that's just a maybe. Anyways; Overall: Departures is alright movie. Somewhat overpraise, but still a great film worth checking out. After all, it's nice to see films like this, reverse prejudice against a once taboo subject.