Movie #252........................."Departures"

Movie #252 "Departures" is a movie I've wanted to see for a long time. In fact, way back in February, my in-laws, Dave and I drove over to the rec center in Boca, Florida so that we could see this movie. When we got there, they couldn't get the apparatus to work, so we went home disappointed. Had I known what a good movie it was, I would have been VERY disappointed. I had skipped it several times because of the time length of the movie (131 minutes), and that is really the only reason I'm giving it a 4 instead of a 5 ----its length. I really don't think it needed to be as long as it was. It is quiet and slowly paced, and I get that, but it was a bit too much, I felt. The casketing that he does in the movie, I got the first time --- so by the end of the movie, I felt I could go to Japan and do it myself, it was so detailed. However, I felt I learned quite a bit about how they prepare their dead in this culture, and how positive they are about death even though their bodies are prepped extensively to be cremated!!!! Unbelievable the care they take ---- now, if this were a documentary, I would have still enjoyed and learned from it, but to also have a script that takes the married couple on a journey to discovery, well that's what makes the film rating so high for me. Also, I appreciated all the supporting actors/characters that helped to make this film a rich find. I recommend it ------ but it is dark in its subject matters. It isn't about a travel agency (when you see the movie, you'll laugh at that comment!)




Average rating: 4.15
I gave it 4.
Our best guess for DONNA: 4.1 stars
Average of 109,569 ratings: 4.2 stars
Departures(Okuribito)
131 minutes
Freshly unemployed, young cellist Daigo (Masahiro Motoki) has an epiphany in which he realizes he's been heading down the wrong career path. Retreating to his hometown, he trains for a new professional role as a nakanshi, or one who prepares the dead for burial. Tsutomu Yamazaki provides comic relief as Daigo's eccentric mentor in director Yojiro Takita's Oscar-winning, richly detailed -- if unlikely -- drama about finding your bliss.

Cast:Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano, Tôru Minegishi, Tetta Sugimoto, Yukiko Tachibana, Tatsuo YamadaDirector:Yojiro TakitaGenres:Foreign, Foreign Dramas, Japan, Japanese LanguageLanguage:JapaneseThis movie is:Understated, Sentimental, EmotionalFormat:DVD and streaming (HD