Departures
For many years, I have recorded films that I want to see in a to-do list software called OmniFocus. There are 128 items on the films list. One of them is Okuribito (a foreign language film). It is in position No. 5, which means it was recorded many years ago. I searched for the film and found that it is called Departures in English. To my surprise, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009. This was probably how it ended up on my list of films to watch 15 years ago.
The film opens in a concert hall with relatively few listeners. At the end of the performance, the owner of the orchestra company informs all the musicians that he has to dissolve the orchestra because it is no longer economically viable. This throws our hero into a real crisis. Without telling his charming wife, he had bought a very expensive cello, and without an income, it will be impossible to service the credit. He inherited a small house from his mother a few hours away from Tokyo, and this is where he moves with his wife to start a new life after giving up his lifelong dream of working as a professional cellist. He admits to himself that he simply does not have enough talent and needs to find a different career.
Now, a moving journey of self-discovery is about to begin. The film is an amazing work of art, weaving together, in a simple story, love, family, death, shame, and forgiveness. Tears rolled down my cheeks more than once. If this does not happen to you, you must be a true stoic. I give the film my highest recommendation.
The film is freely available on YouTube.