Departures (2008)
“Okuribito”
Drama, Music |
Departures is a Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue, and Tsutomu Yamazaki. The film follows a young man who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as a nōkanshi—a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice from those around him, including from his wife, because of strong social taboos against people who deal with death. Eventually he repairs these interpersonal connections through the beauty and dignity of his work.
The idea for Departures arose after Motoki, affected by having seen a funeral ceremony along the Ganges when travelling in India, read widely on the subject of death and came across Coffinman. He felt that the story would adapt well to film, and Departures was finished a decade later.
Daigo Kobayashi loses his job as a cellist when his orchestra is disbanded. He and his wife Mika move from Tokyo to his hometown in Yamagata, where they live in his childhood home that was left to him when his mother died two years earlier. It is fronted by a coffee shop that Daigo’s father had operated before he ran off with a waitress when Daigo was six; since then the two have had no contact. Daigo feels hatred towards his father and guilt for not taking better care of his mother. He still keeps a “stone-letter”—a stone which is said to convey meaning through its texture—which his father had given him many years before.
Daigo finds an advertisement for a job “assisting departures”. Assuming it to be a job in a travel agency, he goes to the interview at the NK Agent office and learns from the secretary, Yuriko Kamimura, that he will be preparing bodies for cremation in a ceremony known as encoffinment. Though reluctant, Daigo is hired on the spot and receives a cash advance from his new boss, Sasaki. Daigo is furtive about his duties and hides the true nature of the job from Mika.
Director: Yôjirô Takita
Writer: Kundô Koyama (screenplay)
Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Ryôko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano, Tetta Sugimoto
►Cast:
| Masahiro Motoki | … | Daigo Kobayashi |
| Tsutomu Yamazaki | … | Ikuei Sasaki |
| Ryôko Hirosue | … | Mika Kobayashi |
| Kazuko Yoshiyuki | … | Tsuyako Yamashita |
| Kimiko Yo | … | Yuriko Uemura |
| Takashi Sasano | … | Shokichi Hirata |
| Tetta Sugimoto | … | Yamashita |
| Tôru Minegishi | … | Yoshiki Kobayashi |
| Tatsuo Yamada | … | Togashi |
| Yukari Tachibana | ||
| Tarô Ishida | … | Sonezaki |
| Sanae Miyata | … | Naomi Togashi |
| Ryôsuke Ôtani | … | Tomeo’s father |
| Mitsuyo Hoshino | … | Kazuko Kobayashi |
| Tatsuhito Okuda | ||
| Akemi Fuji | ||
| Miyako Hattori | … | Grandmother |
| Mari Hayashida | ||
| Shinji Hiwatashi | ||
| Norichika Iimori | ||
| Yôko Imamoto | … | (as Yoko Imamoto) |
| Kei Kawai | ||
| Yûji Kido | … | Assistant Director |
| Hiroyuki Kishi | … | Tomeyo’s Uncle |
| Yukimi Koyanagi | ||
| Mina Kudo | ||
| Yûki Mashita | ||
| Kenzô Ryû | … | (as Kenzou Ryu) |
| Pablo Sacco | … | Instrument dealer |
| Sadami Sakamoto | … | Orchestra Manager |
| Takejyu Sato | … | Togashi’s Relative |
| Sayuri Shirai | … | Tomeo |
| Genjitsu Shu | ||
| Tarô Suwa | … | Angry father at embalming session |
| Ryôichi Suzuki | ||
| Yukiko Tachibana | ||
| Masaaki Takarai | … | Orchestra member |
| Takao Toji | ||
| Rin Uchida | … | Young Daigo |
| Atsushi Yamanaka | ||
| Miki Hayashida | … | Okuyamakenomusume |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia