A gem, not exactly hidden, just tardy

Those Oscar people must know what they're doing. I saw the best movie I've seen in quite a while the other night.
 
"Departures" won the Oscar this year for best foreign film. Like "The Lives of Others," which won a couple of years ago in that category, it didn't get to Kansas City until long after the awards. So do we complain that it took so long, or are we thankful it made it here at all? I don't know any more.
 
Here's what you need to know: It's set in Japan. Young guy is an orchestra cellist. He moves to the big city, fulfills his dream. Then the orchestra croaks. He knows he doesn't have the skill to move up. What to do? His wife says, hey, we can move back to your hometown, live in your mom's old house for free and go from there. So they do. He sees an ad for a job with good hours, good pay, with the heading "departures." We learn later that was a typo. He gets the job even before he really knows what it is. It's not a travel agency. It's preparing the bodies of the dead for their next journey (to the crematorium). Ick. This involves the family watching this whole ceremony. Yikes.
 
Hillarity ensues – but so does a whole lot of other stuff. You might think you've got various characters pegged, but their stories eventually come out. And dealing with families in times of grief is not easy either. Nor is just dealing with your own family. It is at times funny, it is deeply emotionally moving, and it's not afraid to linger over a subtle point. And the music is great. The acting is first rate. There's no one in it who most of us have ever heard of. An hour and a half into it, you might think it's about over. It's not, and the emotional peak of the movie is yet to come.
 
Program notes: First, it's in Japanese with subtitles. Second, it's a little more than two hours long. Third, it's at the Tivoli, and make sure you're on time. My friend and I walked in to the 7:30 show at 7:32, and it was rolling. (What a rip – half of the fun of the movies is the previews.) Fourth, Netflix is a fine thing, but this is one I'd highly recommend seeing in the theater for the full effect. And fifth, take a hanky and get ready for the emotional ride. It's well worth it.


Jeff Fox, The Examiner