Drama. Directed by Yojiro Takita. Starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki. (In Japanese with English subtitles. Not rated. 131 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)
In "Departures," winner of this year's best foreign film Oscar, an unemployed cello player finds a new purpose and a new life in the business of preparing bodies for cremation. It sounds like disagreeable work, but performed with delicacy and precision, it's a ritual that can help the bereaved find peace.
The film is far from perfect but has enough going on to compensate for its excessive length and some sentimentality. The main roles are well performed, with particularly good work by Masahiro Motoki, a former pop star whose interest in the subject got the film off the ground.