Departures

Departures by Yōjirō Takita (2008) touches on the theme of “death”, depicting the profession of funeral embalmers. Daigo, a former cellist, takes on the job of a funeral caretaker, and throughout his journey, he gains new insights on professionalism, respect for the previously shunned (i.e. he learning to see his career in a new light), relationships, and ultimately, life and death. The movie definitely shed a new light on how the funeral profession is like, and after watching the movie, I have newfound respect for these workers, their job certainly encompasses more than what we can imagined.



The movie’s soundtracks are done by Joe Hisaishi, one of the famous music composers in Japan who composed music for many famous movies in Japan. I have picked out three soundtracks that I really liked from this movie:

Departures (Soundtrack) - 14 Ave Maria


Departures (Soundtrack) - 18 Okuribito (Memory)


Departures (Soundtrack) - 19 Okuribito (Ending)


References:
DEPARTURES (Okuribito) (Japan) – Movie Exclusive
Old School Reviews – Departures (2008)
Joe Hisaishi - Wikipedia