2008 · drama
Departures (2008)
Directed by Yojiro Takita2h 10m2008
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.
Our read: Departures (2008) (2008) reads as a sombre, measured, grounded drama entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, tender in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, measured, measured drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, intimate, tender.
- sombre
- measured
Watching Departures tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
Availability in the US · via JustWatch
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How Departures feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want a gentle Japanese drama about dignity in caring for the dead and family healing.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if death preparation scenes or subtitles will depress the evening.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Departures, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
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