I recently received a bunch of films and one of the first films I watched was Yojiro Takita’s Oscar winning film Departures. I really didn’t know much about it, but once I saw that it was a film about a Buddhist encoffiner, I realized that I would also have to watch Juzo Itami’s first film The Funeral that I had also recently acquired.
After seeing both films, it seems that Departures (2008) was inspired by The Funeral. The tone of the two films are quite different, Departures is pretty much a straight drama despite the some-what humorous opening scene, which acts as a hook to draw the viewers into the film. The story is about a professional cello player that gets laid off when his orchestra is disbanded. He decides to move back to his mother’s house in rural Yamagata with his wife and find work in another industry. He answers an ambiguously worded ad and finds himself working as a kind of undertaker. That being said, I think it has a lot to say about the dignity of giving people a proper farewell once they have died as much as it says about lost traditions and economic realities of modern Japan. I think it also gives a vivid portrayal of rural Japan-a place that I don't know very well, but there is some stunning cinematography in Yamagata where most of the film takes place. I was deeply moved by this simple and powerful film.
However, I think that Departures owes a debt to Juzo Itami’s assured directing debut,
The Funeral (1984). Itami went onto make several other impressive films
including Tampopo and A
Taxing Woman, with essentially the same
roster of lead actors. The tone of this film vacillates between drama and
farce. This film looks at the entire process of a funeral that includes finding
a coffin, transporting the body, hiring a priest, following etiquette, and
putting on a wake for the deceased. It is also a study of relationships among
the family, neighbors, and mistresses. There is a scene in which the deceased
daughter and husband watch videotape on etiquette on what to do at the funeral
that is mirrored in Departures. I am assuming the focus of the rituals
was inspiration al to that film as was the moving short silent black and white
film made by a family friend film that punctuates the narrative. It is a
dramatically moving piece that has a string orchestra score in the background,
which predates the cello based orchestra score of Departures. Itami’s debut has some impressive set pieces and
cinematography and shows a director already in control of his craft, my only
complaint would be that it could have been shortened somewhat.
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