..:: 616. The One With Departures ::..

it is oscar/academy award winner of best foreign film. a japanese one. i love the synopsis given and was intrigued to catch it. it was definitely worth it. it is about a guy who lost his job and looked at the advert and found one that had something to do with "departures". He went for the interview and soon found that he was actually going to dress, wash, and put makeup on the deceased before the funeral. not really embalming cos it will involve the three goals of embalming which are preservation, sanitization and presentation (or restoration) of a dead body.[wikipedia]

haha citations! arghz so FYP. (final year project)

It is a ritual i think only in japan where the person will "cleanse" the dead and help them change clothes and do make up. everything is done skilfully and precisely and done in front of the families. the person has to ensure minimal exposure of the skin or body to the families and friends.

It was through the boss, he knew that the ad was wrong, they were looking for someone to deal with the "departed" and not departures which the guy thought it was a job in a tour agency! lol.

it was quite a emotional rollercoaster, cos you laugh at some parts even though it was a serious ceremony. at times u cry when u see the family cries and family problems start to surface.

it is sort of like the HBO series - six feet under which i loved it.

it was a tough job. partly due to the nature of the job. an on-call one and also depend on the nature of death. but the most difficult part is having your family and dear ones know and accept your job. Firstly it is look down upon because you earn money from a dead person and also some cannot take the idea that the very hands touching you have actually been touching the dead.

spoiler alert

the story does not explicitly explain why the job is admirable. after each case and with the conversations from the boss, the guy learned something that kept him in the job despite having to choose to give up his wife who later came to understand why he was so "hooked" to the job.

i also went to buy dvds of little children and vicky christina barcelona. great films. one for kate winslet, the other for penelope cruz and javier bardem (who weirdly look like jeffrey dean morgan, the guy as the dead finance of izzie in grey's)