Departures

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Q A Proof that the greatest films are those that capture the incredibly nuanced emotions that thread the mundane. No loud explosions, special effects, or ridiculous plots. Just purposeful and compelling storytelling. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/08/25 Full Review Areli A Absolutamente bella, una de mis peliculas favoritas Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/30/25 Full Review Dean O My favorite foreign film. The touching scenes and dealing with the sensitive subject of death. How a man mistakenly applies for job that he thought was something else. A man scorned for working that kind of job, but how he overcame their scorn and became respected as a professional who treated the deceased with the upmost respect and care. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/17/24 Full Review Bernard N In returning back where he came from, Daigo Kabayashi is as lost as Professor David Lurie from J. M. Coetzee's novel, Disgrace (1999). One might argue that the Professor is responsible for his own disgraceful homecoming, but such a person would have to be reminded of fate's brutality, that what the leg that will be broken will be broken. There is no more escape for the professor than there is for Daigo, a cellist who has to go back home when his orchestra is disbanded, even before he has paid off the expensive cello he just got. The thing that connects these two so strongly is the new "vocations" each one finds in his own wasted dreams: the professor has his sick dogs, and we're not so sure he cares that much about his work on Byron. Daigo finds his dead, and the cello is now just a hobby. And perhaps because he doesn't care about an audience anymore, he becomes an artist by departing from that stiff professionalism that had driven him to buty the expensive cello in the first place. In a way, his new "art" is the key to that childish fascination that is the mark of the true artist, and with the audience gone so goes the cares and so enters the true artist. Yet in this great transfomation, or metamorphosis, is weaved the metamorphoses of others, so that the movie is more than a portrait. It is a symphonic masterpiece, and Daigo is happy if happiness exist, even though the path to that happiness has wiped the smile perhaps entirely from his face. At the end, I thought I saw in his cheeckbones the cheekbones of Kafka, but that might be an optical illusion. They do look alike if you ask me. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/28/23 Full Review dave s A cellist living in Tokyo, Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) is forced to return to his hometown when funding is pulled from his orchestra. Unbeknownst to his wife, he accepts a position that involves preparing the deceased for their final departure, leading him to reevaluate his life and, perhaps more importantly, his relationships with those around him. Departures is a languid, meditative film, meticulously directed and beautifully shot – every shot is perfectly framed and expertly blocked. The characters all resonate in some way, regardless of their views on Daigo's profession or their own responses to death. It is a moving and impactful film that, despite the subject matter, is never overly sentimental or maudlin. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member One of my favorite movies, beautiful and real. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Departures

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