Departures

Telling an unusual story in an engaging way, Yojiro Takita's Departures was the surprise Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film in 2008. But it's easy to see why: the film deals with a dark subject in a life-affirming fashion that leaves the viewer feeling uplifted rather than despondent. The protagonist is Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a young cellist in a Tokyo orchestra who finds himself unemployed when the group is disbanded. He and his perkily supportive wife, Mika (Ryoko Hirosue), decamp for his late mother's modest house in his hometown, where while scouring the classified ads for work, he finds a position dealing with “departures.” Although Daigo assumes the job is with a travel agency, it turns out to be an assistantship to an aging “coffinman,” a person hired by undertakers to prepare corpses for cremation; the work involves the gentle, ritualistic cleansing and dressing of the body while grieving family members and friends look on. Daigo is initially taken aback but ultimately persuaded by the large salary to take the position, although he keeps it secret from his wife. While Departures has its share of contrivances and treacle, it's also a moving film, particularly in the fascinating and poignant sequences showing the two men engaged in their actual work. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a bonus interview with director Yojiro Takita (12 min.) and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for this often powerful Oscar winner.] (F. Swietek)