In the midst
of watching one Sandra Bullock “heartwarmer” after the next, we
cynical critics often forget how effective and how human
melodrama can be. The genre’s reputation has been tarnished by
its association with soap-operas and rom-coms, and that’s a
shame because it was once a cornerstone of cinema. Yôjirô
Takita’s Departures, winner of this year’s Oscar for Best
Foreign Film, may occasionally fall victim to the same schmaltz
that Bullock melodramas often do, but it’s largely a reminder
that melodrama can still be a great way to tell a story.
The audience
first meets protagonist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) as a
renowned Tokyo cellist, but soon after, his orchestra’s run is
discontinued due to poor ticket sales. Penniless after spending
18 million yen on his instrument, Daigo has no choice but to
move with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) to the country and live
in the house his mother left him. Desperate to find a job, he
responds to a wanted ad for a “departures” business, which he
assumes is a travel agency. Little does he actually know, the
mysteriously high-paying job is for an encoffiner, one who
prepares bodies for cremation in a ritual ceremony before the
deceased’s family and friends.
Daigo takes
the job despite the shocking, nauseating realization of his
first assignment. He doesn’t tell anyone what he’s actually
doing, Mika included, because of the social stigmas attached to
the profession. (Think garbage-man in America times
one-hundred.) But as Daigo becomes more involved in the process,
learning from boss Ikuei Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), he is deeply
moved and healed by it. In particular, the man’s view of his
father, who abandoned the family when he was six-years-old,
changes dramatically.
The
characters in the film feel like real people and the tradition
it details is portrayed authentically; director Takita and
writer Kundo Koyama simply exaggerate the emotions in order to
keep the viewer’s connection with the material alive. It’s a
poignant experience, not at all like the melodramas we usually
scorn. The style is especially helpful for Western audiences,
too, because the foreign funeral practice at the forefront of
Departures could have otherwise seemed detached and
uninteresting. Instead, watching the complicated and artful
ceremonies being conducted is not only involving in the way that
it brings out elements of the characters, but also as a
documentation of a cultural ritual.
Of course, no
good melodrama can succeed without the aid of compelling,
believable performances, which the cast of Departures
uniformly deliver. Lead actor Masahiro Motoki is sympathetic and
engaging no matter how removed from the viewer’s own life he
seems. As the anchor of the movie’s emotions, Motoki beautifully
balances the character’s (rare) reserved moments and his
overflowing ones. His interaction with actress Ryoko Hirosue,
who plays his wife, is also essential to the story. What’s
especially refreshing about this element is that the
performances pay keen attention to the inherently different
natural roles of women and men in relationships. Mika looks to
Daigo as a provider, but doesn’t value this dynamic so much that
she wouldn’t be rattled by the realization that his tireless
work is done as a defamed encoffiner, let alone the fact he
actually likes the job. Providing counterbalance to that
relationship, actor Tsutomu Yamazaki excels in the film’s
subtlest part, Daigo’s employer and quiet mentor.
Another treat
is Departures’ unexpected sense of humor. In an opening
sequence, Daigo and Ikeui befuddling discover something shocking
about the subject of an encoffining job that is well-known to
onlookers. Their reaction is priceless—a joyful reprieve from
otherwise very serious material.
Unfortunately, Departures never achieves greatness
because it ultimately succumbs to the overwrought type of
melodrama it initially defies. In particular, there is an
extended montage sequence in the third act featuring Daigo
playing his cello atop grassy hills, as if to round out his
character transformation, that could easily be featured in a
parody of foreign films. Director Takita generally
overemphasizes the film’s ending, which allows all the elements
to fall into place too easily. Let’s not forget that melodrama,
which is valuable when measured (as is the case in the first two
acts of the movie), can be destructively overdone.
Then again,
I’m almost tempted to forgive the destructive passages in
Departures as they are sensory delights despite their
emotional falseness, showing off Takeshi Hamadi’s lush
cinematography and Joe Hisaishi’s catchy (if overused) score.
Despite its imperfections, this is a thoroughly beautiful movie
– just the type of classical filmmaking American audiences could
stand to see more of.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 5.28.2009
Screened on:
2.27.2009 at the Wilshire Screening
Room in Beverly Hills, CA.
Departures is rated PG-13 and runs 130
minutes.
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