Okuribito (Departures) (2009)
82%RT Audience Score: 75%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
40 wins & 12 nominations total
If slow and predictable, Departures is a quiet, life affirming story
Departures” is a movie that’s all about death, but don’t let that scare you away! Critics are split on whether it’s a heartwarming and profound tale or a hollow and clunky mess, but one thing’s for sure – it’s a unique look at the Japanese funeral trade. The encoffination ritual is a highlight, even if the direction can be a bit heavy-handed. But if you’re looking for a movie that celebrates old-fashioned craft and rural life, “Departures” might just be the one for you. Plus, who doesn’t love a good family fight at a funeral?
Production Company(ies)
Ashton Productions, The Mirisch Corporation,
Distributor
Regent Releasing
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Sakata, Yamagata, Japan
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for thematic material
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 10m
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Language(s):Japanese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 12, 2010
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryôko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano, directed by Yojiro Takita, written by Kundo Koyama, drama, PG-13, box office gross $1.5M, reviewed by Tony Rayns, Joshua Rothkopf, Philip De Semlyen, Trevor Johnston, Kevin Maher, Xan Brooks, Mattie Lucas, Antonio Sison, Kelly Jane Torrance, Brian D Johnson, Masahiro Motoki as Daigo Kobayashi, Tsutomu Yamazaki as Ikuei Sasaki, Ryôko Hirosue as Mika Kobayashi, Kazuko Yoshiyuki as Tsuyako Yamashita, Kimiko Yo as Yuriko Uemura, Takashi Sasano as Shokichi Hirata, produced by Regent Releasing
Worldwide gross: $74,236,951
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $102,603,686
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,002
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,189,061
US/Canada gross: $1,498,210
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,070,692
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,024
US/Canada opening weekend: $74,945
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $103,582
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,919
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Tsutomu Yamazaki – Ikuei Sasaki
Ryôko Hirosue – Mika Kobayashi
Kazuko Yoshiyuki – Tsuyako Yamashita
Kimiko Yo – Yuriko Uemura
Takashi Sasano – Shokichi Hirata
Director(s)
Yojiro Takita
Writer(s)
Kundo Koyama
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
40 wins & 12 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (108) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (86) | Rotten (22)
The scripting of Departures (by Kundo Koyama, the one-man TV-drama writing factory who nurtured such delights as Iron Chef) is embarrassingly clunky and obvious: the movie’s essential hollowness reveals itself with unusual starkness.
November 17, 2013
Tony Rayns
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Heart-warming, funny, wise and profound. Not to be missed.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 5/5
Philip De Semlyen
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The movie gestures towards deep emotions, but an abiding soft-grained superficiality effectively insulates us from the piercing realities of grief.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 2/5
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Fascinating, witty and heartfelt.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Yjir Takita’s bitter-sweet tale of the Japanese funeral trade plays a bit like a formal service itself.
December 4, 2009 | Rating: 2/5
Xan Brooks
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
A charming, winning piece of filmmaking that, while in no way deserving of the title of Best Foreign Language film of this or any year, is a heartwarming and bittersweet tale that hits all the right notes.
August 5, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Mattie Lucas
From the Front Row
In “Departures, life and death are two expressive movements of one musical” piece. Neither is taken as a polar opposite of the other; they dance rhythmically, like the ebb and flow of the ocean tide.
May 1, 2019
Antonio Sison
National Catholic Reporter
All three actors are skilled in communicating difficult emotions just with their faces and in bringing to life the gentle humor that leavens this very affecting movie about death and letting go.
December 6, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Times
The encoffination ritual has a subtlety and grace that’s lacking in Takita’s direction, which lays down the narrative with slow, heavy brushstrokes of lacquered whimsy.
January 2, 2018
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
The laughter and family fights that break out at funerals might be part of this movie’s rural, working-class eye. Departures favors farmland and old-fashioned wood-fired bathhouses over the Tokyo mania. It celebrates old-style, hands-on craft.
September 18, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 stars
Richard von Busack
MetroActive
No doubt the best movie you’ll see this year about the Japanese traditional funeral business.
August 26, 2011
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express…
Plot
Daigo Kobayashi 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 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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Ryoko Hirosue’s portrayal of Daigo’s wife is “smiley, tender and cute” and resembles that of the reviewer’s girlfriend.
Yojiro-Takita.jpg
