DEPARTURES

A gifted young cellist loses his orchestra job and moves back to his hometown, inadvertently answering a job application for an apprentice mortician. Friends and family are appalled, but Daigo soon learns to take pride in his new vocation, finding meaning and spiritual sustenance in the rituals of death. This wistful and charmingly droll production comes on like a Zen version of Six Feet Under and has been wowing foreign audiences for months
– don’t miss it.
Director:
Yôjirô Takita
Japan 2009 131m