Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Masahiro MotokiDaigo Kobayashi
- Ryoko HirosueMika Kobayashi
- Tsutomu YamazakiIkuei Sasaki
- Kazuko YoshiyukiTsuyako Yamashita
- Kimiko YoYuriko Kamimura
- Takashi SasanoShokichi Hirata
- Tetta SugimotoYamashita
- Toru MinegishiYoshiki Kobayashi
- Tatsuo YamadaTogashi
- Yukari Tachibana
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie is uncommonly absorbing. - 90
Wall Street Journal
Beautiful moments abound. In Departures, the contemplation of death prepares the way for an appreciation of life. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
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. - 80
Village Voice
Departures is built for simplicity, and, if nothing else, the appeal to decency and integrity of this sweetly old-fashioned tale make it a must for Bernie Madoff's prison Netflix queue. - 80
NPR
It will absolutely delight the art-house crowd. Multiplexes will be crowded with noisy summer films, after all, from which Departures will represent a sophisticated and elegant departure. - 70
Variety
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. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
Departures is tender and, at times, rather squishy. It's sure to squeeze the tear ducts of anyone who has lost a parent. - 50
New York Magazine (Vulture)
It will resonate with anyone who has ever buried a loved one and struggled to reconcile the myriad emotions--grief, anger, helplessness. Which is to say, everyone. And yet out of this premise comes glop. Departures needed a little more work in the morgue--like cutting to the bone.
