Coming into the movie Departures I had no idea what to expect.
Not knowing what to expect I came in with an open perspective ready to take in
the film. As the film begins you see that the main character Daigo
Kobayashi runs into a huge conflict concerning his employment. The cellist’s
orchestra disbands meaning that he will have to return to his hometown. After
returning he takes a job in the newspaper that reads “assisting departures.”
Daigo finds out that he will be preparing the dead helping them pass on from
this world. The movie to me showed the respect that is involved within Japanese
culture concerning this burial process. Every little detail is taken care of
preparing them for the afterlife, also the variety of religions that are taken
care of under the title obtained by Daigo. A specific scene really struck me
within this movie. The scene occurs when the octopus that the couple are having
for dinner comes alive in the kitchen, flopping about. They grab the octopus
and go to the water. Once arriving they throw the octopus into the water, where
it just floats there lifeless. While watching this scene I chuckled, but as the
octopus floated there you could feel a sense of sadness. Now looking back on
the film I can see that in a way this scene foreshadowed what was to come
during the rest of the film. Overall, the film was thoroughly enjoyable. It
played with a very fascinating topic within society, death, with grace and
beauty. Showing that life, as we know it is precious and should not be taken
for granted.
What are your thoughts of
how the topic of death was covered in this film?
What emotions did the
film evoke for you a viewer?
I really enjoyed watching this film. It provided a different perspective on death, and allowed the viewer to think about the burial practices within their own culture. I was not aware of the significance of the Japanese burial processes and how it is truly a form of art.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was very interesting to see how people reacted to learning of Daigo's profession. I guess the beliefs of Shinto and death being impure stick with people more than I had originally thought.
ReplyDeleteThis movie interested me greatly because I was unaware of this part of Japanese culture. It seemed as though everything they did was very beautiful but yet it was considered to be a terrible job that no one wanted to have. This was a very interesting topic for a movie and I enjoyed it greatly.
ReplyDeleteThe metaphorical interpretation of the octupus scene is interesting. I felt that the film introduced many concepts about death, including the overlooked profession that the protagonist had.
ReplyDelete