Two stories woven together and set to a moving, heart-stirring soundtrack.

I just watched one of the most poignant, moving, unusual movies ever. It’s called Departures, and it was this year’s Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Film. It’s a Japanese movie about a young cellist, Daigo (Masahiro Motoki), whose orchestra is disbanded for financial reasons. He is forced to go back to his hometown and the house that his mother left him. He answers an ad for a job that turns out to be that of an undertaker’s assistant. But this is no ordinary undertaker.

Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki), the man he goes to work for, takes his job very seriously. He is a master at preparing the body for its final journey in a ritual format that is respectful and beautiful. More than that, the care that Sasaki shows is very effective at evoking memories and feelings to help family members deal with their grief. I found myself moved to tears by this ritual and realized how useful it would be for our own society.

There is also a back story. Daigo’s wife (Ryoko Hirosue) is ashamed of his work, feeling that he needs a more respectable job. He has also been raised by a single mother and holds a lot of resentment towards his father, who abandoned him and his mother when he was a small boy.

These two stories weave their way through a film that has a moving, heart-stirring soundtrack, featuring the cello. It also has stunning visuals. I highly recommend Departures. It’s simply wonderful.