Departures User Reviews

I absolutely loved this movie.

08/30/2009, 12:33 pm

Beautiful, funny, incredible.... definatly deserving of best picture..don't miss this one!!

07/19/2009, 9:33 pm

Beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted. It took a dark subject and gave it a smattering of beauty and dignity.

07/18/2009, 10:40 am

simply & beautifully done about a subject that is most often avoided. really loved all of the actors as well & hope they are able to make english-speaking films in the future. but most could mime their way thru a thoughtful movie. they're that good.

06/29/2009, 7:53 pm

What a film! I enjoyed every minute of it. Scenes that could have been uncomfortable were handled with such beauty.

06/29/2009, 5:21 pm

The Academy Awards got it right. This film deserved the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. One of the best films of the year. It had a little of everything: comedy, drama, attention to detail, and character development. The cinematography was beautiful too! I especially loved the ending. I enjoyed this film a lot more than last year's winner: "The Countefeiters."

06/25/2009, 1:35 pm

What a wonderful gem of a movie this is! It was a funny, touching, compelling look at Japanese funeral customs from the eyes of a "casketing" rookie. The ending left me in tears in a good way. I wish more films would touch upon the funeral service in such an artistic and thoughtful manner. What struck me most about this film was that the negative reactions of friends and family to the young apprentice and his new trade were much like those I had experienced when I started in the funeral business. And, like him, these reactions changed dramatically after I assisted those same friends and family members with their own losses. I've had to embalm, casket and cremate people I've loved, including my grandfather, and hard as it was, it was the highest honor I have ever shown them. The Japanese film touches on this--how we should all be so lucky to be "casketed" with such diginity by those whom we love. The actors are so wonderful in this too. If my mortuary management had been as tranquil, philosophic and artful as the rookie's "Boss" I would still be in the funeral profession today!

06/13/2009, 11:24 pm