Departures

Heart-warming, funny, wise and profound. Not to be missed.

Beautiful moments abound. In Departures, the contemplation of death prepares the way for an appreciation of life.

Yojiro Takita, who directed enduring commercial hits like "The Ying Yang Master" and "The Yen Family," has made a popular gem -- thematically respectable, technically hard to fault, artfully scripted to entertain and touch.

Yojiro Takita's movie simultaneously tickles tears of mourning as it wrings laughs about the meaning of life.

TV scribe Kundo Koyama's first bigscreen script peppers the proceedings with rich character detail and near-screwball interludes that shouldn't fit but somehow do.

Takita could easily trim 30 minutes of flab and oceans of tears from Departures. It still wouldn't merit an Oscar, but it would be a lot more watchable.

Here's a great way to start savoring life: Don't waste it on pat manipulations like this.

A sensação que esse filme proporciona magicamente confortável, acompanhado de sua bela trilha sonora e personagens carismáticos. E com uma trama interessante.

Beautifully shot with some great exteriors; the landscape take quite a big part in this film. There were some lovely comic moments as well as some quite distressing scenes as the families go through all kinds of emotions as the say goodbye to their loved ones. I’ll admit to having found it quite touching at times and even shed a tear or two for my dear departed mum. Of course music plays quite a big part in the film and there are some really touching scenes as Daigo plays his cello out in the fields. I did find, however, that the final act didn’t quite have the emotional punch I had expected. Yes, the emotions were there, but it didn’t quite hit home the way I anticipated. Even so, it’s a film I really enjoyed and one I would happily watch again someday. SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED My score: 8.2/10

Great music scores are what the japanese does best. Your review must be at least 150 characters long. Your review must be at least 150 characters long. Your review must be at least 150 characters long.

A well written movie, which touches many themes most importantly dealing with death and watching others grief upon it. One side of it is very soft and touches our heart but on the other hand it is not as astonishing as we expect it to be. Story and even scenes are very predictable. Ending also could be seen from minutes away from it. Director has worked hard on the interior of Coffining but failed to bring deeper sentiments onto screen. Tsutomu Yamazaki's portrayal of a Boss who teaches the protagonist is the most fabulous quality of the movie. Actor actually work the role around and inside. Masahiro Motoki and Ryōko Hirosue are very convincing although camera sometime focused on Ryōko more then it needed. Her character as a devoted wife is well however it is not explored much. Ritual of coffining are filmed very good. The sub plot of protagonist's relation with his father was good but there could have been more about it. Over all a light hearted sentimental film.

If you can get past some of the slapstick that this movie throws in for comedic relief, it is a beautiful story of death, and gives Westerners a new view of dealing with moving on and death.