When the Oscars happened earlier this year, I was expecting 'Waltz with Bashir' to win Best Foreign Film, even though my heart was with 'The Class' - which I thought was the second best movie of 2008. Strangely on Oscar night, a film I had not heard of, 'Departures', won the award. It was finally released a few weeks ago and I was never all that interested in seeing it. It looked rather sappy and not as serious as I would hope the best foreign film to be.... and it is all of those things.
The film is basically about a guy who loses his job as a cellist in a Tokyo orchestra and then moves back to his rural country hometown where his mother (who recently died) left him a house. When he gets there he takes a job with a guy who puts people in caskets (before undertakers remove the caskets and cremate them). Basically the story is about this guy getting back in touch with his roots and re-connecting to his family that was rather broken.
It's a nice film and not offensive, but totally obtuse and much too long (2hrs 15mins). I liked the main actor a lot (Masahiro Motoki) and the score (cello music - get it!) is very nice. The photography is nice too - but sorta basic and not all that surprising (I get a lot of credit to the locations).
The film is way far behind 'The Class' and 'Waltz with Bashir' - but not hateful... just not brilliant.
Stars: 2 of 4
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