About three weeks ago I assigned my students the writing topic, "what is your favorite book or movie?" (We're starting basic). One girl wrote that her all time favorite movie was "The Undertaker" (her translation of 'Okuribito') . She explained that before watching the movie she had seen people who work around death to be "unclean" but this movie had completely changed her mind and it changed her mind about what it meant to die. Her writing peaked my interest, so I rented the movie last night.
If any of you saw the Academy Awards (I didn't) the movie she was referring to is called "Departures" in English. I would have gone for something more like "Last Respects," While Russell opts for the more direct translations of "The Sender Offers." Title aside, it won Best Foreign Language Film this year.
This is the kind of movie that deserves an academy award. I generally shy away from anything that is going to make me cry (and I didn't really know what I was getting into with this one), but this is a beautiful movie about paying last respects to the people we love, told through the journey of a man who unintentionally applies to work at a japanese [funeral home] (for lack of a better word). The general cultural feeling about this is about the same as my student above, but the movie shows him growing into the job. The story is excellent and the acting is excellent. Being able to get a peek into the cultural aspects of death and funerals in Japan is also fascinating.
Don't be shy about the crying comment. This movie doesn't leave you depressed at all.
According to a website I found, it is due out in limited distribution around the US on May 29th. If you are in Corvallis, keep your eyes on the Darkside. If you are in another neck of the woods - keep your eyes peeled. I would recommend it to anyone.
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