Great Shots: Departures

Some films just have astonishingly beautiful cinematography, and last year's Oscar-winning Foreign Language film, Departures is one of them. Not only is this Japanese film a truly wonderful, emotional experience, it is such a joy simply to look at the shots and be in awe of the beauty of the Japanese countryside in which the film is set. The colors of the film are extremely rich and vibrant, and the shot shown above is the key shot of the film that essentially represents the film's visual, and emotional prowess.

The shot shows our protagonist, Daigo playing his cello in front of the magnificent backdrop of the Japanese mountain ranges. Flowers spout up in the field around him, and from a pure visual standpoint, the shot is a winner. The colors are lush, and the shot itself is kind of epic even though the film is a drama. This shot though, is more than just a pretty picture, it is the perfect accompaniment to the film.

This shot occurs in the middle of the film, when Daigo finally begins to come into his own. Daigo has become an encoffiner (preparing dead bodies for funerals) which is considered a dishonorable profession in Japan. At this point, Daigo's wife has left him because of his job, but Daigo has begun to understand the importance that his newfound job truly holds upon life in general. Daigo plays the cello on this mountain range, alone in the frame, not a single sign of civilization in sight. It is his setting free from his own constraints and his own trepidations about his newfound job, and he sets free by playing the only thing that allows him to make sense of things, playing the cello (as he puts it at one point in the film).