Departures Movie Essay

Plain and simple, death is a tough subject to face. But death is a part of life and in the film Departures, the Japanese ritual of encoffining shows a beautiful side to this delicate topic. Life is important and we see what it is like to be human. The conflicting duality of growth and society in Departures powerfully shows how precious life is and how every moment should be treasured.
The movie Departures is a beautiful story of a man who becomes lost in life and oddly finds his way back through death. It became intriguing to watch Diago, a professional cellist who has been playing since he was a young boy, become jobless and desperate to find his new path. After moving back to his hometown to start over, Daigo took a job thinking he would be working for a travel agency but he was instead told he would help
While the move back to his childhood home brings up the reasons of why his father abandoned him as a young child, Daigo is also left to relive more of the same feelings as his wife Mika decides to leave him because his job as an encoffiner is considered a filthy and degrading profession in Japan. An old childhood friend, Yamashita, turns his back on Daigo when he learns of his job and does not want to be associated with Daigo anymore. It is not until Yamashita loses his mother and Daigo is the one to prepare her body for the funeral that his wife and friend see his purpose in the profession and then are able to give Daigo the respect for what he does. Mika is then able to support Daigo when he receives the news that his father has passed away. Mika is able to convince her husband to take the opportunity to care for his father. Daigo grows from the experience and see his father in a new light. While Daigo prepares his father for the burial, he is able to let go of the pain of the past. He then is able to fully forgive his father and accept who he was to