.. that it was a Japanese movie
.. that it was the movie which I promised to watch with my bookaholic mei mei but accidentally FFK-ed her due to misunderstanding. You have no idea how guilty I felt that day.
.. that it was the winner of Best Foreign Film at the Oscars this year.
What I didn't know was this movie revolved around the dead as well. And I usually don't like to watch movies involving ghosts or dead people because I get creeped out and nightmares. Horror movies are my least favourite movie genre.
BUT, this movie is an exception. Really. Dead bodies from the beginning until the end but still no creepy crawlies. Haha.
Basically, this movie is about a cellist who lost his job when his orchestra band got disbanded albeit suddenly. Out of job and financially tight, he proposes to his wife to go back to the countryside where his mother has left him a house. To his surprise, his wife agrees. Later he answers a job advertisement, not knowing what the company was doing. Later he found out that the company was in the encoffineering industry.
You must be thinking "Encoffineering? What the hell is that?". Ditto here ^_^
It's the art of prepping the body of the deceased before placing them into their coffins. Part of the job description include cleaning the body, dressing them and changing their clothes, putting on makeup (shave if it's a guy)... something like what the mortician does. Only thing is that they do the entire ritual with the deceased's family members and close friends in front of them watching each and every single step all the way to the end.
When you're at the beginning of the movie, you'll feel what most others and the character itself felt - "The whole idea is just weird".
As the story progresses on though, you find the ceremony itself is beautiful, loving and dignified. You know, the idea of being associated with the dead or death itself is considered such a taboo in the very traditional Asian society. It's a wonder (and really awesome) how the scriptwriter and the director managed to touch on this subject so strongly yet portray it so delicately and artistically and refined.
By just watching a 10-15 minute scene where the main character performing the entire encoffineering ritual from the beginning to the end, with no lines and no music playing in the background, my entire focus was drawn into it and I was moved to tears. Not because someone's dead or died oh so tragically or sadly. The entire thing was just amazingly beautiful. The way he dealt and treated the deceased was with so much love, honour and respect. At the end, it got me thinking that I'd love to have this ceremony or ritual or whatever they call it when my time comes.
I much prefer this movie over Slumdog Millionaire. Unlike Slumdog, Departures left a very long lasting effect on my mind. I watched it several days back but I keep thinking about it on and off even days after. I keep thinking what other movies has left this kind of good aftertaste in me before. And I can't think of much... the only movie that comes to mind is Infernal Affairs. LOL.
P.S. To those of you who asked me about Harry Potter & the Half-blood Prince, if you like the book, you'll like the movie. I think this movie resembled the book so much closer than the previous 2 movies did. I personally liked it. If you don't read the book, there's a 50-50 chance you might not like it because there's not much magic and duel in here. BUT you need to watch this movie in order to understand the final two movies. So to watch it or not, your call.
