(Japan, 2008, 131 min., Japanese w/ES)
Director: Yojiro Takita
Daigo is a cellist in a symphony orchestra in Tokyo. But when his symphony disbands, the disheartened musician sells his cello and moves with his wife to his childhood home in a northern province in Japan. He reluctantly accepts a job as a ceremonial dresser of the deceased but is too embarrassed to tell his wife of his desperate situation, instead allowing her to believe he is involved in wedding ceremonies. Daigo's awkward encounters as an 'encoffiner' are mirrored in his personal struggle to find himself while grappling with issues of abandonment by his father. As we watch Daigo come to embrace the sacredness of his duties, we witness the power of love and of the human spirit. Beautifully filmed and musically lush, Departures won the Academy Award for best foreign film in 2008.
