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MOVIE SYNOPSIS
Departures (Okuribito)
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"Departures" follows Daigo Kobayashi, a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.
Related reviews:
Departures
By Carrie Rickey, Inquirer Movie Critic
Posted 06/11/2009
Winner of this year's foreign-film Oscar, Departures veers from comedy to drama, occasionally taking a rest stop on the shoulder of sentiment. Yojiro Takita's movie simultaneously tickles tears of mourning as it wrings laughs about the meaning of life. » Read more
Video: Departures
MPAA rating:
PG-13
for thematic material
Cast:
Kimiko Yo; Tatsuo Yamada; Yukiko Tachibana; Masahiro Motoki; Kazuko Yoshiyuki; Tsutomu Yamazaki; Ryoko Hirosue; Tôru Minegishi; Tetta Sugimoto; Takashi Sasano
Directed by:
Yojiro Takita
On the web:
 
Departures (Okuribito) Official Site
Genre:
Drama
Running time:
02:11
Release date:
2009
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