But the film could use more scenes that challenge the foundations of its own existence, questioning the power thats wielded by wilson, nemoto, and japan. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between those he counsels and himself. It begins as a narrative about a couple in financial crisis. He settled with his wife, child and mother at a temple in gifu prefecture where he spends nearly all his. The film concerns the historic japanese encoffining ceremony called a nokan. Sad, tender and quietly moving, the departure never says more than it needs to, much like its subject, a buddhist priest who counsels those contemplating suicide. It is a remake of the 2002 hong kong film infernal affairs.
Three teenagers on the island of okinawa are preparing to go their separate ways after finishing high school. Id give it five stars if i thought that i, or others, were likely to want to watch it multiple times, which seems unlikely to me, although it really is a very good film. The departed stars leonardo dicaprio, matt damon, jack nicholson, and mark wahlberg, with martin sheen, ray winstone, vera farmiga, and alec baldwin in supporting roles. This film won oscar 2009 for category best foreign language film. Protagonist daigo kobayashi is maneuvered into the. If you come here often, you should tell us and the whole world, really about yourself in the bio section of your profile. The departure looks at selflessness and suffering from a zen monks view ittetsu nemoto in nagoya, japan, in the documentary the departure. Midway through the film, he explains that when he was in the. And now in the departure, she turns her lens on suicide, a huge issue in modernday japan. The departure ittetsu nemoto, a former punkturnedbuddhist priest in japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live.
A musiciancultural sophisticate wannabe is shocked when hired to regularly participate in the traditional though frowned upon japanese preparation for departure ceremony but slowly comes to find. Nominated for an academy award as best foreign language film of the year, departures is a delightful and sensitive excursion into the heartland of japan. Japanese the departure is a 2017 american documentary by lana wilson. She also recently wrote an episode of the national geographic channel miniseries i am rebel, executive produced by doug liman and matt wolf. The story involves a young man who apprentices to the trade of encoffinment, the preparation of corpses before their cremation. Its not often one can have a genuinely spiritual experience watching a movie. Interactive map shows you the best places to see japans. By now almost everyone would have heard of this japanese film okuribito departures, given its win in the recent academy awards, clinching the oscar for best foreign language film, beating the likes of crowd favourite waltzing with bashir, and the palme dor winner the class. The departure is a documentary portrait of ittetsu nemoto, right, seen here with a participant in one of his counseling retreats.
Dec 05, 2009 departures, which won an oscar as best foreign language film, is a moving, gently amusing contribution to this tradition and centres on daigo, a 36yearold japanese cellist who recognises theres. By using a story line approach instead of a documentary one, the viewer, who is not familiar with the japanese culture or this tradition, is drawn into this elaborate procedure and ceremony by viewing a young man who has lost his job. The film follows a young man who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as. Departure an english mother and son make a sad journey to the south of france in andrew steggarts delicatetoafault debut feature. We have no way of knowing, and indeed neither do they, that this is the beginning of a journey of profound growth and discovery, brought about through the instrument of death. What does the japanese title for the movie, okuribito, mean. Despite all the fear, however, the movie took off and gained international fame. Jul 02, 2019 the number of foreign visitors to japan reached a record high of 31. Following the 21st nikkan sports film award ceremony, in which departures won best film and best director, takita expressed surprise at the film s awards, saying i did not know how well my work would be accepted. One of the key reasons why this film worked for me was the music composed for it.
At the 29th hong kong film awards, departures was selected as best asian film, beating three chinese films and ponyo. The story involves learning deep love, forgiveness, the healing of childhood loss. It won the academy award for best foreign language film at the 2009 oscars. May 27, 2009 it is the insight inspiring departures, the lovely japanese movie that won this years oscar for best foreign film. Departures is a 2008 japanese drama film directed by yojiro takita and starring masahiro motoki, ryoko hirosue, and tsutomu yamazaki. From kurosawas ikiru through the funeral and now okuribito, japanese cinema has a rich vein of movies that exploit the rituals of death. Departures, which won an oscar as best foreign language film, is a moving, gently amusing contribution to this tradition and centres on daigo, a 36yearold japanese cellist who recognises theres. The story is not complicated or deep but it is exquisitely poignant. At times it is funny but throughout it is very moving and if you allow your. A departure volt a zenekar elso kislemeze, amelynek osszes szamat az egyuttes tagjai irtak.
The opening scenes of departures 2009 give no hint of what direction the film will take. Soon after buying an expensive cello, daigo kobayashi masahiro motoki learns that his orchestra is disbanding. In the departure, watching over those who flirt with death. Nominated for an academy award as best foreign language film of the year, departures is a delightful and sensitive excursion into the heartland of japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a very special part of japan s cultural heritage. Departure 2015 film, a british film starring juliet stevenson the departure, a belgian film. Director yojiro takita and writer kundo koyama examine the rituals surrounding death in japan with this tale of an outofwork cellist who accepts a job as a. Indeed, he had deeply personal reasons for what he does. It won the grand prize in montreal world film festival in august 2008, which paved way for its domestic success.
Departure, also called takeoff, the phase of flight from moving along the ground to flying in the air departures, the section of a transport hub designated for outgoing passengers, freight, and vehicles. The members of the academy who gave departures its oscar must be feeling their mortality. May 20, 2016 my only negative comment is that the editing could have been a tad tighter, particularly regarding the underwater footage that seems to be overemphasized. Apr, 2012 departures okuribito the sendingoffperson is an award winning 2008 japanese film about a young cello player who loses his orchestra job and out of financial necessity returns with his wife to his rural home town where he accidentally finds a job for a funeral company. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between his patients and himself. The film premiered at the 2017 tribeca film festival in new york.
One really should watch the japanese movie departures before buying the soundtrack to this movie. Japanese director yojiro takita has created a cinematic masterpiece that is. Departures the trailer of a 2008 japanese film youtube. The japanese film departure is a timely reminder that a film about teenagers and their relationships need not be saturated with vulgarity to make an impression on viewers. The movie departures was almost not shown in japan. Zoom in on the map below to see major filming locations, and click on. Set in the gorgeous countryside of giju prefecture, japan, wilsons after tiller film follows ittetsu nemoto, a former punk and troubled youth turned zen buddhist priest. If slow and predictable, departures is a quiet, life affirming story. How those rituals comfort us, enchant us, and see us through to a place where the pain still exists but might come to an end, is laid bare in okuribito. From adelaide, south australia, id like to write to congratulate the funding bodies. The film opens on a dancer gyrating wildly under the flashing strobe lights of a crowded club, then cuts to a motorcyclist speeding through the city at night before pulling up at a small country temple shortly after dawn. But thats precisely whats on offer with the departure, lana wilsons quietly galvanizing portrait of life, death and the thin places in between. And if you dont know what this profession in japan is then you should watch this film. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.
A former punk rockerturnedbuddhist priest in japan who has made a career out of counseling suicidal people finds himself at a crossroads, leading him to confront the same question his patients ask him. Lana wilsons documentary the departure centers on a japanese priest who specializes in suicide prevention. Okuribito contains many scenes of rural japan and natural beauty which probably made some viewers wonder where in japan the movie had been filmed. The japanese cinema reserves a special place for death. The second documentary by awardwinning director lana wilson after tiller, the departure is a poetic and deeply moving film that contemplates death as a way of better understanding how we should live.
I bought this dvd becasue i was so intrigued by the storyline a cellist who becomes a reluctant encoffiner. Rent departures 2009 starring masahiro motoki and tsutomu yamazaki on dvd and bluray. Contrary to general perceptions of buddhist priests, he lives an extremely busy life as a counselor to several people who are thinking of ending their own lives, and does so full of grace and empathy. After life, it is handled in terms of ongoing life. That observation from the mourner of a dead dog in errol morris gates of heaven strikes me as simple but profound. Academy award winner best foreign language film winner of 10 japan academy prize awards. A lemez az otodik helyen mutatkozott be a japan oricon heti eladasi listajan. Ittetsu nemoto, a former punkturned buddhistpriest in japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. As nearly as i can recall, there is no discussion of an afterlife.
Departures is a heartwarming story, which also provides a wonderful insight into japanese culture, particularly the encoffining ceremony of nokanshi, which is. Departures okuribito the sendingoffperson is an award winning 2008 japanese film about a young cello player who loses his orchestra job and out of financial necessity returns with his wife to his rural home town where he accidentally finds a job for a funeral company. The scripting of departures by kundo koyama, the oneman tvdrama writing factory who nurtured such delights as iron chef is embarrassingly clunky and obvious. Oct 31, 2017 but thats precisely whats on offer with the departure, lana wilsons quietly galvanizing portrait of life, death and the thin places in between in modernday japan. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. For those planning a trip to hokkaido, japan, weve put together a selfguided foodcentric tour of the city, which brims with incredible cuisine. Death is for the living and not for the dead so much. By using a story line approach instead of a documentary one, the viewer, who is not familiar with the japanese culture or this tradition, is drawn into this elaborate procedure and ceremony by. A kislemez b oldalas szama, a rainy a vegzet ereklyei. In films like kurosawas ikiru, ozus tokyo story, itamis ososhiki the funeral and kore edas maborosi and. Departures received the academy award for best foreign language film of 2008. Csontvaros cimu film japan vetitesenek temazeneje volt. Daigo kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job.
Synopsis nominated for an academy award as best foreign language film of the year, departures is a delightful and sensitive excursion into the heartland of japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a very special part of japans cultural heritage. He is renowned in japan for saving the lives of countless. Pere jovanov memory from the movie departures duration. The movie tells the story of a secondrate cellist who loses his job when an orchestra is disbanded but finds inner peace and fulfillment working as a nokanshi, ceremonially preparing the bodies of the newly deceased before they are placed in coffins for cremation. Departures is one of those films that transcends cultures and is truly worthy of being called great. It is the insight inspiring departures, the lovely japanese movie that won this years oscar for best foreign film. The departed is a 2006 american crime film directed by martin scorsese and written by william monahan. As the movie s theme is about death, which is taboo for the japanese as death is something that causes defilement to the living it was voted last for a prerelease screening survey. Sep 05, 2008 yojiro takitas okuribito focuses on one japanese death custom that, because of those female relations, i did not experience.
Wilson was previously the film and dance curator at performa, the new york biennial of new visual. Oct 12, 2017 despite the nobility of his calling, nemoto never comes across as a saint. The second documentary by awardwinning director lana wilson after tiller, the departure is a poetic and deeply moving film that contemplates death as a way of. Masahiro motoki and tsutomu yamazaki in departures. This is only a minor issue and has no serious impact on this rewarding film. Daigo and his wife move back to his hometown in northern japan, where he answers an. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. The frontrunner was widely thought to be the israeli war movie waltz with bashir but the oscar went to departures, a japanese film that hadnt yet opened in the u. Departures is a movie which involves the viewer in an ancient japanese tradition of the honoring of the dead and the deceaseds family and relatives.
It is about a briefly professional cello player who loses his job and moves to his now deceased mothers old house in a more rural, small town, part of. Known as departures in english, the movie won the oscar for best foreign language film in 2009. Ittetsu nemoto, a former punkturnedbuddhistpriest in japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. The departure presents patterns in suicidal people while according them humanity, which isnt a small accomplishment. The movie is about finding your bliss, even if the world thinks your bliss is odd, icky and a marriage breaker. Rent departures 2009 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix. Departures is a very japanese film, which reflects japanese peoples emphasis on ritual and their sense of beauty. The departure captures nemoto at a crossroads, when his growing selfdestructive tendencies lead him to confront the same question his patients ask him.
Contrary to general perceptions of buddhist priests, he lives an extremely busy life as a counselor to several people who are thinking of ending their own lives, and does. Okuribito, one who sends off is a 2008 japanese drama film directed by yojiro takita and starring masahiro motoki, ryoko hirosue, and tsutomu yamazaki. Jan, 2010 departures, okuribito is a 2008 japanese film by yojiro takita. Director yojiro takita and writer kundo koyama examine the rituals surrounding death in japan with this tale. This touching film attracted millions of audiences to the cinema. Okuribito the departures mi jerica joyce dalunag in film analysis april 22, 2016 april 22, 2016 618 words one of the themes portrayed in the movie okuribito the departure about the japanese belief about having a dead body cleansed before placing inside the coffin. Wilsons film the departure tells the story of a remarkable zen priest doing suicide prevention in japan. Insidejapan shared an interactive map that shows not only the best places to see cherry blossoms, but also when theyre in full bloom. From ramen to sushi and much more, this is what and where to eat in hokkaido. Want to see japan s famed cherry blossoms without the crowds. Documentary film about zen buddhist priest premieres at. Copying or secondary use of this information in whole or in part for the purpose of reproduction, publication, broadcasting or presentation, etc. Where to eat when headed to hokkaido, japan departures.