FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Departures

Times are hard for the young couple. He plays cello in a small provincial orchestra. The conductor explains to him that the orchestra must be closed. But there is more bad news. Some time ago he bought a new cello for money he didn't even have. He did not want to tell his wife. He knew she would think it was a bad idea. Now she knows. Can we suspect at this moment that this very cello is a kind of epiphany in the film? Yojiro Takita's film is about death. And in Japanese cinema, death always plays a prominent role! What's less interesting is the life after death than the grief of the bereaved. In the center of Departures is Daigo (Masahiro Motoki), an impulsive young man. His wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) loves him and believes in him. Even when he sells his expensive cello and returns to his mother's house. Daigo is now unemployed. He is back at the beginning again. He applies to Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) in a kind of travel agency. With luck! There's even an advance. This travel agency organizes trips to the next world. What an idea! What ceremony is used to embalm a corpse? How do you grant the private sphere of the deceased? How do you comfort the bereaved? How do you make up the corpse? These are lessons of life. It's best if Daigo doesn't tell us about his work. His wife might be shocked. If Mika discovers the secret and tells Daigo that she must leave him. She doesn't want to live with a man who paints the dead. Departures is such an elegant film. Everything flows, nothing is forced! Daigo seems to have been born for this work. Yet the narrative is quite conservative. Departures does not want to be a stylistic breakthrough. Instead we get a gripping and above all emotionally touching story. I have the impression that this is exactly what is most important to you - the customers of our video store. Much more than laughing or being scared! Departures is not a manipulative melodrama. We know and understand the main characters. Although we have probably never been in a company like this before, we are deeply involved. Sometimes Departures even gives us a smile! How many times have I seen the film now? Three times already.