Departures

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Cast & Crew

Masahiro Motoki
Daigo Kobayashi

Tsutomu Yamazaki
Ikuei Sasaki

Ryôko Hirosue
Mika Kobayashi

Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Tsuyako Yamashita

Kimiko Yo
Yuriko Uemura

Takashi Sasano
Shokichi Hirata

Toru Minegishi
Yoshiki Kobayashi

Tetta Sugimoto
Yamashita

Tatsuo Yamada
Togashi

Yukiko Tachibana

Yojiro Takita
Director

Kundo Koyama
Writer

Joe Hisaishi
Original Music

Takeshi Hamada
Cinematographer

Akimasa Kawashima
Film Editor

Fumio Ogawa
Production Design

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News & Interviews for Departures

Critic Reviews for Departures

Audience Reviews for Departures

• Jun 24, 2013

  The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film is, as expected, an accessible, yet heartwarming drama about music and death as the inert main characters: death as a gateway to the eternal, music as the machinery to heal the wounds of the heart. Conquered by a great cinematography (which is extremely common in Japanese feature films), the story acquires effectiveness in a gradual way, which allows us to get over the unnecessary melodramatic elements and the uncalled uncomfortable "comedic" moments, such as Daigo playing the cello with a rotating camera around beautiful landscapes or the initial "humor" that was suddenly killed afterwards. Props to Ryoko Hirosue for portraying the wife that any man would want; her smiley, tender and cute personality remarkably resembles that of my girlfriend, with the exception that she would have accepted any job I had taken since the beginning. 76/100
  Edgar C Super Reviewer
• Feb 11, 2013

  A musician/cultural sophisticate wannabe is shocked when hired to regularly participate in the traditional though frowned upon Japanese preparation for departure ceremony but slowly comes to find humanity in the highly orchestrated rituals of the process. A well done work and very engaging, altho often as obvious as all hell. I personally found the old timer's (Yamazaki) version of the process more poetic.
  Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
• Jul 19, 2012

  Daigo Kobayashi is very attatched to being a cellist in an ocherstra, which unfortunately has recently been dissolved. He now finds himself living unemployed, and looking for a job. He moves back into his old hometown with his loving wife to start a new life, with a new job. But little does he know that his life is about to take him on a strange yet beautiful journey working as a funeral professional who prepares lifeless bodies for both burial and entrance to the next life. As dark as the plot might sound to be, this is actually a very touching film. It makes sure to bring joy into its main theme, "death." To bring great feelings into such a serious subject is hard to do, but this film sure does a great job on it. There are however, some gloomy moments in Departures but only when necessary. It seems as if this film knows a lot about human nature, and nature itself which makes it seem very realistic. From humor, to sadden, to hopes and dreams, to death, and so much more, these feelings are all balanced in such a great order that makes its viewing experience come alive. Departures really is a beautiful movie about life itself. Just life. Not religion and other's beliefs (even sometimes seeming like it), but life and nothing more.
  Emmanuel T Super Reviewer
• Jan 10, 2012

  Peaceful, touching and quirky funny, Departures is a very positive view on life and the choices we make, despite the topic and the very teary scenes. Poetic, slow-paced and beautiful.
  Francisco G Super Reviewer

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