ANA_EIGA18_Dapartures

Photo: Releasing/Here Media

We are happy to announce the special advance premiere screening of Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film, “DEPARTURES,” with guest appearance by director Yojiro Takita and main cast Masahiro Motoki. This is the first time a Japanese film won an Academy Award making it a splendid achievement in Japanese film history. The film is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan’s cultural heritage. After the screening, we will conduct a Q&A session with the the director and actor for all attendees.

presents
“NIPPON EIGA” SERIES: PART 18

Special Advance Premiere of
Academy Award® Winner – Best Foreign Language Film

DEPARTURES

with Guest Appearance by Director Yojiro Takita and Main Cast Masahiro Motoki

Friday. May 01, 2009
Door 6:15pm, Film 7:00pm
Chelsea Cinemas: 260 West 23rd Street, NYC
Admission Free. Need RSVP to http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/departures

RSVP closes on 4/27 at midnight. Confirmation will be sent.

STORY

When a symphony orchestra in Tokyo disbands, Daigo Kobayashi suddenly becomes unemployed. Suffering from low self esteem, he faces the fact that not everyone who has devoted their life to music can become a top artist. With wife Mika  in tow, he moves back to his hometown in the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata to live in his late mother’s house, which doubled as the local pub. Daigo’s father abandoned the family when he was a very small boy, but his mother never stopped carrying a torch for him.

Spotting a Help Wanted ad featuring the word “Departures,” he is excited about the prospect of trying a new career in the travel industry. He arrives for the interview, curiously eyeing the coffins lining the back wall of the office. The company owner, Sasaki, hires him on the spot, with only a cursory glance at his resume. Daigo finally ventures to ask what is involved, exactly, and is stunned to learn what he has gotten himself into: the ceremonial “encoffination” of corpses prior to cremation.  Sasaki urges him to take the job, proffering large amounts of cash; he’s getting older and needs someone to carry on the tradition. Daigo overcomes his initial trepidation and agrees to try the job.

Daigo’s very first encounter with the dead is such a grisly one that it nearly puts him off the job for good. Sasaki is comically matter-of-fact but firm in his directives and tries to convince Daigo that they are providing an important service to their community. Other cases soon follow. Some are markedly traditional, featuring loving family members in the time-honored transition of grieving and saying goodbye. Others highlight the kind of pot boiler family dramas that are often fraught with unexpected conclusions: a beautiful suicide victim who appears to be female is actually transgendered and a teenager who caused a fatal motorcycle accident tests the fortitude of the victim’s family. He is also deeply touched by an elderly grandmother whom he dresses in the white socks and school uniforms of her granddaughters. Daigo encounters death in various forms and, true to Sasaki’s expectations, develops a deep respect for life in all its variations and a profound empathy for people trying to make peace with the finality of death.

Daigo’s wife Mika has been kept in the dark. At first, he was too embarrassed to tell her about his conversation-stopping profession. He was too embarrassed to admit he loved living in his hometown again with the people he knew while growing up while embracing his newfound connection to the living.  However, it’s a small town and eventually she discovers his ruse. Appalled and disgusted, she won’t let him touch her and insists that he quit.  When he refuses, she returns to her family in Tokyo.  Daigo stubbornly clings to the sense of value he has found in himself and the work that he is doing. As winter turns into spring, his confidence blooms and he begins to take charge of the business for the aging Sasaki.

Unexpectedly, Mika returns with the wonderful news that she’s pregnant. Her affection is tepid but she begins to accompany him on his calls.  Slowly, as Mika sees how he treats the deceased mother of a close childhood friend, and how he helps the family to achieve closure, she begins to accept Daigo’s career choice.  When he receives word that his father has suddenly died, she helps him face a serious dilemma. With seething resentment bubbling to the surface, he tells her he is not obligated to take responsibility for the arrangements. As their relationship hangs in the balance, how is Daigo going to react as an encoffineer, a husband, a son and now a father and ultimately as a human being? It is Daigo’s turn to deal with life and death among the people who are dearest to him.

DIRECTOR – YOJIRO TAKITA

Born in 1955, Yojiro Takita joined Hiroshi Mukai’s Sushi Productions as an assistant director in 1976, making his directorial debut in 1981 with “Chikan Onna Kyoshi” and going on to helm over 20 films. His first feature film “Komikku Zasshi Nanka Iranai!” (1986), was selected for the New York Film Festival. His subsequent filmography includes “The Yen Family” (1988), “We Are Not Alone” (1993), “The Exam” and “Secret” (both 1999). In 2001, his special effects fantasy “Onmyoji” (“The Ying-Yang Master”) stormed the box office and generated a sequel, “Onmyoji 2,” in 2003. His historical drama “When the Last Sword Is Drawn,” earned Best Film at the 2004 Japan Academy Prize Awards and his most recent films are “Ashura” (2005) and “The Battery” (2007). Takita is originally from the town of Takaoka, Japan and he currently resides in Tokyo.

MAIN CAST – MASAHIRO MOTOKI

Motoki made his film debut as the unlikely sumo wrestler in “Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t” (Miramax U.S. release), for which he was given the Japan Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992. American audiences may also remember him from the original Japanese version of “Shall We Dance?” Since then, he has worked with Japan’s top directors, starring in “Gemini” (1999), “Spy Sorge” (2003) and voicing a lead role in “Tekkon Kinkreet” (Sony Pictures U.S. release).

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:

http://www.departures-themovie.com

ANA Eiga Series Media contact:  [email protected]