ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Davidson Film Club (DFC) is screening the Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language Film “Departures” on Saturday, July 14, at the Armour Street Theatre at 7:00 p.m.

“I regard Departures as the most moving film I have ever seen commemorating the bonds between the living and the dead.” Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

This Japanese film from 2009 was directed by Yôhirô Takita, with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes. It is in Japanese with English subtitles

The film will be presented and discussion led by Sam James, Owner/Funeral Director, James Funeral Home in Huntersville.

Laurie Isbister’s JP Travel, the official sponsor of the Davidson Film Club, will provide complimentary refreshments, including snacks, red and white wine, and bottled water. Come enjoy their in-house personal service and remember them when you plan your next trip. You can visit their website for further information.

“Departures” is a delightful and sensitive excursion into the heartland of Japan and an astonishingly beautiful look at a very special part of Japan’s cultural heritage. Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. He decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a nokanshi, or “encoffineer,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. His wife is aghast. This is a story of love, of discovery, of revelation, and of the transcending human spirit.

It received 34 wins and eight nominations: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Editing, Best Lighting.

Its Rotten Tomatoes Audience score was 92 percent.

Critics had this to say:

“The music is lush and sentimental in a subdued way, the cinematography is perfectly framed and evocative, and the movie is uncommonly absorbing. There is a scene of discovery toward the end with tremendous emotional impact. You can’t say it wasn’t prepared for, but it comes as a devastating surprise, a poetic resolution.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“This powerfully moving exploration of love and loss is leavened by humor and the revelatory grace of the ritual itself.” Karen Durbin, Elle Magazine

“It will resonate with anyone who has ever buried a loved one and struggled to reconcile the myriad emotions—grief, anger, helplessness. Which is to say, everyone.” David Edelstein, New York Magazine

“An incredibly fulfilling movie experience … In a season devoted to movies that go crash-bang-boom, this film offers quiet joy, beauty—and an amazing array of feelings.” Marshall Fine, Hollywood and Fine

If you are not a Davidson Film Club member, walk-ins are $9, NC Sales tax included, and are always welcome, cash or check. Cost for walk-in students is $7.

Reservations may be made in advance at [email protected], with payment at the door—or just walk in!

Our website features the whole current series and film descriptions. Have you Bookmarked it?

Please be reminded that members are always free to give their seats to a friend if they cannot make it to a given screening. Just email us at [email protected] to let us know the name of the friend who will be using your seat(s), or simply to let us know that you cannot come so we will know your seats are available for walk-ins.

We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers that only exists to bring you fine international fiction films and engage in stimulating discussion about them.

Hope to see many of you on Saturday, July 14, at the screening of this deeply moving, powerfully poetic film.