Okuribito (2008)

Director:

Yôjirô Takita

Writer:

Kundo Koyama (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

The gift of last memories

Plot:

A newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Funeral | Orchestra | Cellist | One Word Title

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 31 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Masahiro Motoki	...	Daigo Kobayashi
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Ikuei Sasaki
Ryoko Hirosue	...	Mika Kobayashi
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Tsuyako Yamashita
Kimiko Yo	...	Yuriko Kamimura
Takashi Sasano	...	Shokichi Hirata
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mitsuyo Hoshino
Tarô Ishida
Hiroyuki Kishi
Yukimi Koyanagi
Tôru Minegishi
Sanae Miyata
Ryôsuke Ohtani
Tatsuhito Okuda
Genjitsu Shu
Tetta Sugimoto
Tarô Suwa
Yukiko Tachibana
Takao Toji
Tatsuo Yamada

Also Known As:

Departures (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
A Partida (Brazil) [pt]
Anahoriseis (Greece) [el]
Departures (France) [fr]
Departures (Denmark) [da]
Nokan - Die Kunst des Ausklangs (Germany) [de]
Pozegnania (Poland) [pl]
Son veda (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic material.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #45351) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (British Columbia) | Taiwan:PG-12 | UK:12A | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Sakata, Yamagata, Japan

Company:

Amuse Soft Entertainment

Trivia:

Japan's contender for the 2009 foreign language Oscar.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#26.35)" (2009)

Best Japanese film in 2008!

Beautiful and touching movie about life and death. My favorite movies dealing with the same issue are Akira Kurosawa's "Ikiru" and "Red Beard". Also, Juzo Itami's comedy "Funeral" is pretty good one. Same as these master's works, Director Takita successfully put good comedy elements in this serious film. The idea "Death is a gate for another world" may be based on Buddhism belief, but I am sure you can relate yourself to this story with your own experience of losing somebody important. Masahiro Motoki was at his best for the leading role. He once played similar role in "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't" by Director Masayuki Suo (Shall We Dansu?) in terms of being put in awkward situation, involved seriously and end up finding the virtue in it. Music score is by Joe Hisaishi. Great as always. He has done great jobs on films for Takeshi Kitano and Hayao Miyazaki. I am sure this will be the best Japanese movie in 2008. 10/10