Departures (reviewed by K. Rahmah)

Daigo is a cellist whose orchestra is dissolved due to poor ticket sales. Together with his wife, Mika, they to return to Daigo’s hometown in Yamagata to live in his parents closed coffee shop. Looking for work, Daigo applies at NK Agency believing it to be a travel agent. Only to find out that the “departures” he will be assisting in are those not for holidaymakers but instead for the dearly departed.

Departures is a delicately balanced and cleverly composed film. It deals primarily with endings; Daigo’s failed dreams, his realization of his lack of talent, his dead mother’s abandoned coffee shop and an apprenticeship in an industry that deals daily with bereavement. Yet instead of plunging into deep moods of melancholy, this film is funny, offbeat and uplifting. And without being didactic manages to reflect on the idea that endings are also gateways to new beginnings.

At times, the story telling doest flirt with the cliché, some of the humour is reminiscent of NHK TV drama acting. Still this appears to actually add to its unassuming charm and quirkiness instead of detracting from it. Most impressive for me, was the depiction of bereavement within the film. Yojiro Takita apparently attended numerous funerals in order to be able to portray the plethora of emotions experienced by bereaved families. Meanwhile Motoki, who won two Best Actor awards for his portrayal of Daigo, puts on an artful example of Japanese “en-coffinment”, for which he apparently trained for with a professional mortician. Part of this years Japanese Film Festival line-up, this humble film is well worth seeing, if only to appease your curiosity of what a 2009 Academy Awards - Best Foreign Language Film looks like.

Cast Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano Director Yojiro Takita Runtime 130 mins Opens (Japanese Film Festival) 18 – 22 June 09 at GSC Midvalley / GSC 1 Utama and 26 – 28 June 09 GSC Gurney Plaza (call 03-8312 3456 KL / 04-222 2456 Penang) or log on to www.gsc.com.my.

Text Kamariah Rahmah