Death is only a vague looming fear for most of us but for Daibo Kobayashi it becomes an everyday fact of life after he replies to a newspaper advertisement for staff in "Departures". His education is often hilarious if sometimes grotesque as he learns from his boss how to prepare a corpse for cremation, a job in days gone by done by the family of the bereaved, but these days performed by contracted professionals in the family home and in front of them and their guests with great ceremony and dignity. The job is not highly regarded, however, and he is seen as rather ghoulish by others (including his own wife!) but this only reflects their anxiety of saying a final farewell, movingly brought home when he is repeatedly given heartfelt thanks on leaving after having completed the job, and the relief of his clients becomes apparent. In a full 2 hours that never becomes dull his personal life, his artistic life and his professional life are kept in a dynamic and entertaining tension before the preparation of the corpse of his estranged father becomes a synthesis of all three in the last act of intimacy possible between father and son.
Review of Departures
