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DEPARTURES

おくりびと

By Yojiro TAKITA

KAIROS DISTRIBUTION LIMITED - as DISTR Airline, World

Drama - Completed 2008

At the 32nd Japan Academy Prize ceremony, Departures dominated the competition. It received a total of thirteen nominations, winning ten, including Picture of the Year, Screenplay of the Year (Koyama), Director of the Year (Takita), and Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

- Year of production
- 2008
- Genres
- Drama
- Countries
- JAPAN
- Languages
- JAPANESE
- Duration
- 130 mn
- Director(s)
- Yojiro TAKITA
- Cast
- Masahiro MOTOKI, Ryoko HIROSUE
- Synopsis
- Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife (Ryoko Hirosue) 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" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise 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 with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.