Departures was a passion project for both director Yojiro Takita and actor Masahiro Motoki. APA speaks with Takita about the struggles and inspirations behind his Oscar-winning film.
While Departures initially threw everyone for a loop (including the cast and crew themselves) when it beat Israel's Waltz with Bashir and France's The Class for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, American audiences will soon get the opportunity to understand why the win was warranted. Departures begins its US release (Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and counting) on Friday, May 29, 2009.
It's been a long road for Departures. For some time, there wasn't much support for this project -- not from financiers who would allow a writer/director to make the film, nor from distributors who could help find channels of exhibition, let alone from future audience members who might or might not appreciate it. Who would want to go see a film about death? Even if former boy-band hottie Masahiro Motoki was starring in it? (Age has been very, very kind to the 43 year-old leading man.)
It took some patience, some loyalty, and some good word of mouth in order to convince everyone Departures was a special film that doesn't come by very often. In addition to the Oscar, Departures won ten Japan Academy Awards (it was nominated for thirteen), earned Motoki Best Actor at the Asian Film Awards, and has collected over $60 million in the Japanese box office. Eight months after its Japanese premiere, the film is still playing in theaters.
Departures follows Daigo (Motoki), a cellist who moves from big city Tokyo back to his small hometown after his orchestra is shut down. He finds himself not only out of a job, but forced to accept that he doesn't have the talent needed to achieve his lifelong dream. "Come tour with me" is how he romantically proposed to his impossibly-sweet wife Mika (played by Ryoko Hirosue). Now he has to ask her to move back to the rent-free house that his deceased mother and estranged father used to share. After answering a vague ad in the paper, Daigo meets the president of NK Agency (the pitch-perfect Tsutomu Yamazaki), who suspiciously gives Daigo the job on the spot. It isn't until later that he realizes NK stands for Nokanshi (encoffinment).
APA catches director Yojiro Takita during his May visit to the US and speaks with him about Departures. --Ada Tseng
Interview with Yojiro Takita
May 5, 2009
Interviewed by Ada Tseng
Video by Warren Kenji Berkey
Onsite interpreter: Taro Gato
Transcription and translation by Ayano Takeuchi
APA: Can you start by telling us how you get involved with this film? I heard it started with an idea that [actor] Masahiro Motoki had.
Yojiro Takita: Yes, Masahiro Motoki went to India, read various books, did other things, and got to know the job of being a Nokanshi [encoffinment]. But this was around 15 years ago, when death could not easily be a theme of movies. So 14 or 15 years passed, and then a producer who worked for an independent film company got interested in Nokanshi and tried to make a movie about it. He wrote a script and asked me to take part in making the film. I was also impressed reading the script, which made me think of life and living, even though the literal theme was death.
So I revised the script, working together with a screenwriter, and then started shooting. Even when we started shooting, I was not sure how this movie would turn out and how people would react to it. As I was collecting information about Nokan, meeting and talking with a lot of people, I began to understand the theme of this movie. From my perspective, the main theme is that people should live every day, appreciating life at the same time that you face death.
In the beginning nobody wanted to buy this movie. But thanks to the wonderful staff, actresses and actors, we have now received an Oscar, and this movie is going to come out in 60 countries.
APA: While preparing for the film, you attended many funeral ceremonies. What did you take away from that experience, that you wanted to convey in your film?
YT: We started with thinking about what Nokanshi actually was. I realized how amazing and graceful it was to take care of people as a Nokanshi, while I was actually doing assistant jobs on the spot. There is no sound, and you can only hear and feel what the Nokanshi does and how he acts. I also thought there was a lot of unique drama for each individual, while I saw different emotions of bereaved families. I felt that seeing people off was splendid and seemed to be a divine action.
APA: In the film, there's a scene where Daigo is tricked into being the human model for a Nkanshi demonstration that is being filmed for a DVD. Did you base it on a real DVD, or was the scene written for comedic effect?
YT: Yes, there is a more serious DVD about Nokanshi, which is, of course, not so funny. This type [of DVD] is for the profession, and it demonstrates a procedure of Nokan. But we wanted to portray humor that can be expressed through [Daigo's] involvement in such a serious situation. That's why I purposefully had him wearing underwear, which looks so funny. But the secret is that his serious movements and actions make him and the scenes look more humorous, even though he is quite serious. People can find it funny that Daigo is working so hard and trying to do his best, which means he is so serious, but somehow this seriousness shows a kind of funniness.
APA: Joe Hisaishi composed the score for Departures. Can you talk about what you wanted for the music of this film?
YT: I had worked with Hisaishi before and already knew that he has been given an amazing gift, which is to effectively translate the characters' emotions into music. In this movie, there is a story about Daigo and his father. Daigo evokes his memories while taking care of his own father as a Nokanshi, and in turn, finally renews the connections with his father. And also, there is another story of how a wife and a husband start all over again in their relationship. This story is also really human. So what I wanted Hisaishi to do is to inspire the idea of "living one's own life" by his music.
APA: In the film, Daigo goes back to his hometown. Can you talk about why you chose this particular location for the setting of the story?
YT: The location should be in wild nature, since the theme relates to "death." I especially focused on snow. [Snow] sometimes looks so beautiful, but at other times, it makes life so difficult. Snow can be a symbol of the difficulty of life. Now, Japan is quite tired, both in Tokyo and in other local areas, in terms of the economy and other aspects. In such a situation, people tend to forget about important things that have been there. As you know, the theme [of the film] is "death," but I wanted to portray fragility and beauty that are fading away. So I selected the Shnai area in Yamagata prefecture for the location. This is the best area, I think.
APA: Over the ending credits of the film, there's a long take of Motoki going through the entire casketing process. Can you talk about that scene?
YT: The very last scene is an homage dedicated to Nokan. Daigo himself finally becomes a wonderful Nokanshi and masters everything. The last scene is aimed to express this.
APA: How would you describe Motoki's acting style and the way he prepared for this role?
YT: Motoki's acting is quite natural. He also tends to prefer quiet and elegant performances. As I have mentioned earlier in this interview, this movie requires some comedy. So we had meetings again and again, in order to figure out how we could express the contrast of humor and elegance. But I did not want to put any extremeness into the movie -- even happiness or sadness. This is not only my business but also Motoki's, so we had a lot of meetings over how we should express these emotions, etc.
When it comes to the scenes of Nokan, Motoki is responsible for those scenes. He met and talked with a lot of people and collected information about Nokan and finally created his own way. We both tried putting beauty into the movie, and you can actually see and feel that there are beauty, kindness, and a graceful atmosphere in it. The techniques of lighting and camera have also added to making him look more and more graceful. The most important thing is that we have succeeded in showing his wonderfulness.
To go to the official Departures website, click here.
Click here for APA's analysis of Departures. To listen to an audio piece that APA writer Bryan Hartzheim recorded for BBC Radio on Departures, click here.