Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.
Departures is a quietly remarkable Japanese drama that earned its Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film on genuine merit. The acting, particularly Masahiro Motoki's lead performance, is deeply nuanced — conveying shame, reluctant pride, and emotional awakening through restrained, precise work that anchors the entire film. Novelty is high because the film's central conceit — treating the ritual preparation of the dead (nokanshi) as a form of art and meditation on life — is genuinely singular, transforming a culturally specific and taboo subject into something universally moving without feeling exploitative or gimmicky. The plot is engaging and emotionally earned, though it leans on a fairly familiar arc of a man finding unexpected purpose in an unlikely vocation, plus some predictable familial reconciliation beats. Cinematography is competent and often beautiful in its quietude, capturing rural Yamagata with warmth, but rarely rises to visually daring or especially distinctive work. The ending resolves the father-son thread in an emotionally satisfying but somewhat conventional way, providing closure that feels slightly too neat given the film's otherwise measured restraint.