Departures

Okuribito

(Japan, 2008, 131 mins)

35mm

Midwest Premiere

writer: Kundo Koyama
director of photography: Takeshi Hamada
editor: Akimasa Kawashima
music: Joe Hisaishi
lighting: Hitoshi Takaya

• IMDB Film Info
• www.departures-themovie.com
• Trailer

Departures follows Daigo Kobayashi, a cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled Departures, thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a Nokanshi, a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others are repulsed by the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of Nokanshi, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and death. Winner, Best Foreign Language Film, 2009 Academy Awards; winner, ten Japan Academy Prizes including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor; Grand Prix des Ameriques, 2008 Montreal World Film Festival; Audience Award, Best Feature, Palm Springs International Film Festival. Special thanks to Steve Jarchow and the staff at Regent Releasing for making this screening possible.

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