The Japanese movie "Departure" is about a mediocre cellist who suddenly became unemployed due to the dismissal of his symphony orchestra. Skimming through classified ads in the newspaper、he was attracted by a job description saying "high salary、short working hours、and help people with their departure"、thinking it was related to traveling. In the job interview、he realized this job is to ready the dead bodies before putting them into the coffins. He had to cleanse corpses、changed their clothes、and put make-up on them. At first、he was ashamed of this job and didn’t tell his wife about it. Working along with his kind boss、he gradually discovered respectability and holiness in his job. The "encoffiners" conduct the ritual so gracefully that the deceased can imprint beautiful memories on the living friends and relatives' mind. Every movement they do shows respect and tenderness to the dead. In some ways、they also help the families deal with tragedy.
After watching this movie、I am so impressed with Japanese people's thoughtfulness and exquisite mind. Even though the plot isn't very complicated、a lot of details (the main actor's connection with the dead、the coffin they used) contribute to the development of climax. Japanese people have interesting views on death. In the movie、an old man who's in charge of cremating corpses said that funeral is the gate to another journey、and he's just the gatekeeper. I don't watch many Japanese movies、but other favorite Japanese films of mine are also related to death、like "Death Notebook" and "Sweet Rain" (死神的精準度). They are awesome.
