Departures
(DVD)

Originally released in 2008 as a motion picture.

Special features: interview with director Yôjirô Takita.

Ongaku, Hisaishi Jō ; satsuei, Hamada Takeshi ; henshū, Kawashima Akimasa.

Motoki Masahiro, Hirosue Ryoko, Yo Kimiko, Sugimoto Tetta, Minegishi Tōru, Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Sasano Takashi, Yamazaki Tsutomu.

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and finds himself without a job. He decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled 'Departures' thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency. He discovers that the job is actually for a 'Nokanshi' or 'encoffineer,' a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed.

MPAA rating: PG-13; for some thematic elements.

DVD NTSC, region 1; widescreen (1.85:1) presentation; 2.0 Dolby Digital or 5.1 surround sound.

In Japanese, with optional English subtitles.

Academy Award, 2009: Best foreign language film.

Awards of the Japanese Academy, 2009: Best actor, Best cinematography, Best director, Best editing, Best film, Best lighting, Best screenplay, Best sound, Best supporting actor (Yamazaki), Best supporting actress (Yo)