Movie: Departures (おくりびと/Okirubito)

The movie Departures follows Daigo Kobayashi in the central role as he is forced to leave Tokyo after he loses his job as a cellist, and move back to his dead mothers house in rural Sakata. Via a misunderstanding he finds himself working as an assistant encoffiner, and the film rotates around this. Encoffing is typically Japanese as it is a highly ritualized way of preparing the diseased for the coffin. It may sound a bit morbid, but the movie does this with much love and empathy. Masahiro Motoki does his lead role perfectly, but the whole movie just breathes quality all over and understated feelings. This is the kind of movie you can watch and just relax and get carried along, not into sleep, but into two hours of movie storytelling as it is supposed to be. Its a gem and much like Korean movie Architecture 101 both local and universal in its tone.

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