There are two moments when a person receives the greatest respect. First, the day they marry. Second, the day they die… We don’t see everyone getting married, but we do see everyone receiving respect for their mortal remains after death. Every religion speaks of honoring the dead. While we’re alive, we can see who respects us and who doesn’t. Many show us respect to please us or make a display of it. But how many truly honor us after death? Do any at all? We can’t see then, can’t understand who respects us and who doesn’t. The entire world becomes free from our feelings. While alive, we live with such elaborate schemes, painting ourselves with colors to fulfill our desires. And after death? No one will even call us by name. The dead all share one name: corpse or cadaver. Whether we’re dressed up or not, clean or unclean, prepared or unprepared for the final journey—who cares about any of this? The Japanese film Okuribito (Departures in English translation) teaches us to care for the dead.
Daigo plays the cello in an orchestra. When he loses his job, he takes another—as an encoffiner, a job that survives on others’ deaths. The work of cleaning corpses, arranging them with proper dignity, and placing them in coffins with respect. The work must be done with great care, with love and reverence. During this time, the deceased’s family and relatives remain nearby, performing various rituals. Modern life’s busyness barely allows people time for the living, let alone the idea of spending so much time cleaning, washing, and adorning the dead with various treatments to prepare them for burial. Encoffiners do precisely this work. People of all faiths, all communities, all professions can receive this service for their loved ones after death. The relationship between the living and the living is one thing; the relationship between the living and the dead is entirely different. From the day a person dies, we form a new relationship with them. Encoffiners initiate this new relationship. They must be perfect, professional. Taking a corpse that society views with contempt and preparing it with utmost care for burial—this is undoubtedly the most honorable work.
At first, Daigo doesn’t take the job lightly. Eventually, he grows accustomed to the work. The day his wife learns about his job, she immediately tells Daigo to quit. By then, Daigo has developed a certain commitment to the dead. He has fallen in love with the work. He cannot honor his wife’s wishes. With time, his wife also accepts Daigo’s job. After Daigo’s father’s death, his wife herself requests that he prepare his father for the final journey. Daigo couldn’t bear his father because he had abandoned Daigo’s mother when Daigo was small. While preparing that same father’s corpse before placing it in the coffin, tears streamed down Daigo’s cheeks. Touching someone close can overwhelm a person with profound tenderness. No one harbors anger toward the dead. And if the despised deceased is one’s father, then hatred’s fire transforms into tears of love.
One dialogue from this film has etched itself in my mind: “Your life’s last purchase is made by others”… This was said about buying coffins. The further this film progresses, the more it seems to say: live as much as you can before death! After death, even your shadow won’t remain with you. Being alive itself is joy. The film’s story is essentially about human relationships. There’s no need to live in such a way that you die carrying someone’s curse. The film’s protagonist Daigo witnesses many people’s deaths up close. The more he sees death, the more he comes to know life. When immortal melodies flow from Daigo’s cello, those tunes place life and death side by side and hurl thousands of questions at our hearts. This film’s theme is life and death. Even while repeatedly bringing us close to death, the cinema maintains a certain coolness, detachment, an undramatic atmosphere until the very end.
The film tells us that in ancient times, before the invention of the alphabet, people communicated through stone letters. The weight and structure of stones revealed the sender’s state of mind. For instance, a smooth stone indicated the sender’s peaceful mind, while a rough stone revealed that the sender’s heart was restless thinking of someone. ‘Departures’ places several stone letters in our hands. Among these stones, some are smooth, some rough, and some are neither smooth nor rough.