Departures on Amazon™

D.: Dae Jo Young | Daggers | Dale Chihuly | Dark Chocolate |

Departures

Regular Price: $26.98 |

Dear visitor! This website has been designed to help you find THE BEST PRICE. When you are ready to buy, your payment will be processed through one of the most TRUSTED SUPPLIERS directly.
Thank you for shopping with us!

Not what you're looking for? Try smart custom search:

Customer Review

A Masterpiece
A lengthy review is not required for this film. It was simple, profound and beautiful.I consider myself to be a hard and somewhat jaded man, having survived war and traveling far in my life. This film awakened long-buried emotions.I wept.
Top to learn more

March 8, 2011 (Minnesota, USA) | Helpful Votes: 46 | Rating: 5

4 ½ + Stars: Yojiro Takita 's Film Explores A Dark Premise With Amazing Sensibilties
Japanese films have always had the remarkable reputation of turning the simplest premise into something so full of moving emotions and sensibilities. Yojiro Takita's multi-award winning film "DEPARTURES" (2008) is no different. There is a lot of excessive hype surrounding the film as it has almost nearly swept the Japanese Academy awards and has been awarded the Best Foreign film honor in the recent 2009 Oscars. No film can live up to the hype it has gotten, but I have to say it has earned each and every recognition; well deserving of the commercial success it had achieved in its native land.Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a cello player whose dream is shattered when the orchestra he is playing with goes broke. Left with no choice but to sell his prized cello, Daigo together with his wife Mika (beauteous Ryoko Hirosue) returns to his hometown to live in his mother's old house. In need of a new job, Daigo responds to an ad in the local paper for a job in "Departures",...
Top to learn more

November 27, 2009 (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell) | Helpful Votes: 20 | Rating: 5

Can you make a beautiful (and sometime funny) movie about death? Yes, and in Japanese too!
Amazon has a limit of five stars in its rating system. If I could, this 2008 film - which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film - would get SIX. It is the perfect blend of story, visuals and music!You probably know already that this is the story of a "downsized" cello player who finds a job as an encofineer ( the men who add the makeup and garments to deceased persons before the are cremated.) I hope you don't know more, as it will really destroy the surprises in store for you as this beautiful film unfolds. I won't even give it a long review for that reason. The music all revolves around the cello and the score (which features 13 cells playing together over the end titles) is reminiscent of what Michael Nyman composed for the film "The Piano". The cinematography is gorgeous. There is no blood and no violence. Death comes naturally here and there is beauty in the dressing.The subtitles are in yellow below the image and easy to read. And the dialogue is never...
Top to learn more

January 8, 2010 (Phila, PA USA) | Helpful Votes: 13 | Rating: 5

Product Description

2009 Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film. When his orchestra disbands, Daigo Kobayashi moves back to his home town and takes a job preparing corpses for burial. Too embarrassed to admit his new career to his family, he keeps his profession a secret until... Top to learn more

Departures (OST)

Regular Price: $27.98 |

Customer Review

Departures sound track
This music, like the film itself, is postively hauntingly beautiful. I LOVE it, and play it over and over. Wonderful melodies, and fabulous cello.
Top to learn more

October 17, 2009 (Hancock MI) | Helpful Votes: 21 | Rating: 5

Beautiful!
Whether or not you have seen this movie this soundtrack is absolutely moving and lovely.
Top to learn more

January 18, 2010 (Carlisle, PA USA) | Helpful Votes: 9 | Rating: 5

Great soundtrack
I loved this movie and particularly the orginal cello music that was written for it. The theme was especially haunting and I had to buy the soundtrack. I was very happy to be able to obtain it from Amazon at a reasonable price.
Top to learn more

November 18, 2009 (Honolulu, HI) | Helpful Votes: 10 | Rating: 5

Product Description

Asian exclusive soundtrack to the film that won Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2009. Universal. Top to learn more

BUY Departures (OST)

Departures [Blu-ray] [2008]

Regular Price: $36.99 |

Customer Review

March 8, 2011 (Minnesota, USA) | Helpful Votes: 46 | Rating: 5

November 27, 2009 (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell) | Helpful Votes: 20 | Rating: 5

January 8, 2010 (Phila, PA USA) | Helpful Votes: 13 | Rating: 5

Product Description

United Kingdom released, Blu-Ray/Region B : it WILL NOT play on regular DVD player, or on standard US Blu-Ray player. You need multi-region Blu-Ray player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: Japanese ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), Japanese ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Documentary, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Director Yojiro Takita and writer Kundo Koyama examine the rituals surrounding death in Japan with this tale of an out-of-work cellist who accepts a job as a 'Nokanashi' or 'encoffineer' (the Japanese equivalent of an undertaker) in order to provide for himself and his young wife. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a talented musician, but when his orchestra is abruptly disbanded, he suddenly finds himself without a source of steady income. Making the decision to move back to his small hometown, Daigo answers a classified ad for a company called 'Departures', mistakenly assuming that he will be working for a travel agency. Upon discovering that he will actually be preparing the bodies of the recently deceased for their trip to the afterlife, Daigo accepts the position as gatekeeper between life and death and gradually gains a greater appreciation for life. But while Daigo's wife and friends universally despise his new line of work, he takes a great amount of pride in the fact that he is helping to ensure that the dead receive a proper send-off from this state of being. This thought-provoking look at life and death was Japan's submission for the Oscars in 2008. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Oscar Academy Awards, ...Departures (2008) ( Okuribito ) Top to learn more

Departures is surely the gentlest, sweetest movie about death that you will ever see. A cellist named Diago (Masahiro Motoki) comes to the rueful conclusion that he’s not talented enough to make a career as a musician; having just returned to his hometown with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue, Wasabi), he answers a job ad for what he thinks must be a travel agency... only to discover that company prepares bodies to be placed in coffins. Fearful of his wife’s response, he hides his new job--but as he grows to appreciate his boss (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Tampopo) and the affect that the humbling ceremony of cleaning and dressing the deceased has on their families, Diago discovers that he might have a calling. Departures won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and it’s easy to understand why. Though it starts out quietly and even seems slight, it gradually builds in emotional power, layer by layer, until scene after scene at the end is richly moving. Particularly affecting is the performance of Kimiko Yo, the secretary of the company, who harbors a troubling secret. A few moments of overt symbolism push the movie from compassion to sentimentality--but every time Departures seems to have lost its footing, a scene follows that strikes all the right notes so deftly it resonates like a bell. A truly marvelous movie. --Bret Fetzer Top to learn more

BUY Departures [Blu-ray] [2008]

As It Is in Heaven

Regular Price: $29.95 |

Customer Review

Finding your voice
I have only reviewed one movie before (a bad one), but I had to say something about this movie because it was such a great surprise. I think this is the best movie I have seen for years and my wife liked it even more. This movie is beautiful, touching, and has an important message. I think it is the best Scandinavian movie since "My Life as a Dog" and "Babettes Feast", perhaps the best Scandinavian movie ever. It is in Swedish with English subtitles.Daniel Dareus a famous musician returns to his Childhood village Ljusåker in Northern Sweden after ending his career in the aftermath of a heart attack. The members of the local church choir ask him to help them. His professional methods are not easily understood by the locals but the choir members love him. The drama filled events that unfold result in people finding the courage to face their fears and to grow, something that is not appreciated by everyone. All his life all Daniel wanted to do was to help people finding their...
Top to learn more

June 28, 2008 (Texas) | Helpful Votes: 105 | Rating: 5

Inspiring on all levels
This review focuses on various human-emotion topics of the film rather than details of the storyline:I sobbed from a spiritual/soul epiphany sparked by this film. Films like this that dig beneath the surface of human experience are once in a blue moon. It demonstrates a sincere belief in the good of people- it speaks the message again and again that one's best is all anyone can ever do. It serves to humanize all members of a society, regardless of their actions (referring to battered woman and husband). It is a story of a group of individuals learning to listen to one another and harmonize- the choir is a metaphor for the grander society; an indispensable lesson for the well-being of our world. It is about release of judgment and fears.A beautiful film! If you enjoyed Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benini) or Together(another Swedish film)- you may really like As It Is In Heaven.
Top to learn more

March 25, 2006 (Bern, Switzerland) | Helpful Votes: 58 | Rating: 5

The power of sound
This is the first movie I've been to where at the end I wanted to stand and applaud. I think the sound of the choir at the end had such an overwhelming physical affect I was physically and emotionally moved. I felt as if all my cells were hopping.After I saw this film I heard a physician on public radio talking about 'sound therapy' and the ways in which music, song and sound can heal the body.
Top to learn more

April 27, 2006 (Oslo & Seattle) | Helpful Votes: 55 | Rating: 5

Product Description

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2005 Academy Awards-®, As It Is In Heaven is the story of Daniel, a successful international conductor who returns to his childhood village in Sweden. Soon thereafter, the local church choir seeks him out to solicit his advice. He can't refuse, and nothing in the village is the same again. As the amateur choir develops and grows, he is drawn to the people of his old hometown, makes friends and finds love... Top to learn more

BUY As It Is in Heaven

The Taste of Tea

Regular Price: $24.92 |

Customer Review

Amazing and delightful -- a touching and lovely film from Japan
The Harunos are not your typical family. The father is a hypnotist, whose method is to enable people to dream alternate worlds; the mother aspires to draw anime; the grandfather is also an artist, who takes great delight in his unconventional ways; the daughter is troubled by a giant version of herself who follows her around and stares unhappily at what she does; the son, perhaps the most ordinary, is a shy but intelligent boy who has fallen in love. The film is gorgeous, full of visual surprises and laugh out loud moments. I had no idea what a nice surprise was waiting for me when I rented this on a whim; I will definitely buy this dvd since it is one that could definitely live up to repeat viewings and I can't wait to introduce it to other friends and lovers of cinema. I can't believe I'd never heard of this beautiful and charming film about family and love and obsession and work and friendship and above all, imagination. It may seem slow, since its aim is not so much to move...
Top to learn more

August 9, 2007 (Florida) | Helpful Votes: 39 | Rating: 5

a well made cup of tea
I bought this movie on a whim and I was very pleasantly surprised. The story and characters are quirky yet endearing on many levels - the grandfather in particular is priceless. It is a modern tale of an artistic family living in a suburb of Tokyo - very pastoral scenery, but very urban neuroses. It is an artistic rendering of everyday situations that make you want to laugh and cry. It is also a kaleidoscope of Yakuza thugs, hypnosis therapy, artistic integrity, letting go of a relationship, mixing music in a studio, surviving your in-laws, and more! It is all done with a light touch the neither judges nor tries to reduce to some trite formula.If you enjoy art films and different cultures, this is a must see.
Top to learn more

December 17, 2007 (29.48 N , 98.51 W) | Helpful Votes: 20 | Rating: 5

I Love This Movie
I saw this movie in the theater in New York City. It is the best movie I have seen in a long time. I was laughing until I was crying at some points, and at other moments utterly moved by the genuine sentiment and lyricism.What a beautiful film...
Top to learn more

May 16, 2007 (brooklyn, new york) | Helpful Votes: 16 | Rating: 5

Product Description

Meet the Harunos, a rather unconventional, but happy and loving family nonetheless. They live in a small town in the mountains just out of Tokyo where life is good and quiet - but that doesn't mean they don't have their own little problems.

As 8-year old Sachiko (Maya Banno) tries to get rid of a giant version of herself who seems to pop up everywhere, her older brother Hajime (Takahiro Sato), privately wrestles with his love-struck heart. Meanwhile, their mother Yoshiko (Satomi Tezuka) is working hard, coming out of retirement as an animator, as her husband and professional hypnotist Nobuo (Tomokazu Miura) watches on with slight apprehension. Yoshiko's brother, Ayano (Tadanobu Asano) is just visiting his hometown and staying with the family, but also has ashidden agenda; he needs to come to terms with a romance that ended years ago. Even Nobuo's brother and successful manga artist Todoroki has his problems. It's his birthday soon and he wants to give himself something special. And lastly there's Grandpa, the most bizarre and perhaps the most perceptive of all, who continues to search for a better way to live life to the full.

Written, directed and edited by Katsuhito ISHII, The Taste of Tea is a unique and gentle family portrait tackling the universal themes of time, people and their lives. Top to learn more

Like Ozu's Tokyo Story, The Taste of Tea takes the long view of a Japanese family, though the eccentric Harunos are unconcerned with the moral quandaries Ozu's characters typically face. Director Katsuhito Ishii, known in America for his animated sequence in Kill Bill Pt. 2, gives the viewer a comedic slice of life in this artistic family's rural village. With a mother reentering the animation business, a musical grandfather conceptually akin to Yoko Ono, and a hypnotist father, siblings Hajime (Takahiro Sato) and Sachiko (Maya Banno) have the mental freedom to roam deep into imagined worlds that comprise the film's core. Hajime's infatuation with a girl at school becomes an obsession that bears fruit due to his commitment to meeting her. Sachiko's giant ghost follows her, leading her to believe that if she can master a back flip on the gym bars that she will scare the ghost away. The Taste of Tea relies upon odd, awkward moments of reflection or confusion. Hajime isn't sure what to make of his Uncle Ayano's (Tadanobu Asano) story involving a chicken egg in the forest. Similarly, Sachiko runs for her life when a man emerges out of the mud next to her. The absurdity in the narrative is underscored by visual impossibilities, for example a train rushing out of Hajime's head, and other bizarre live-action animation. Interestingly, each character's dilemma is based on external forces. Tensions between family members are non-existent in The Taste of Tea, reinforcing the idea that artistic minds must stick together in an increasingly unpredictable world. --Trinie Dalton Top to learn more

BUY The Taste of Tea

Okuribito (Departures)

Regular Price: $42.99 |

Customer Review

A beautiful film score
Last month I had the pleasure of catching the Oscar winning film OKURIBITO (aka DEPARTURES) at my local Landmark theater). I completely fell in love with the film about a man who finds a new calling in the field of Nokanshi (or encoffineer) after his orchestra is dismissed due to poor finances. What really made this film so endearing to me is the gorgeous classical film score by Joe Hisaishi, the same composer who has worked on numerous Hiyao Miyazaki films. I was particularly moved by his song "Memory". The haunting melodies of the song had brought tears to my ears through out the film. It is rare that a film score could do that to me but Joe's beautiful composition did. The soundtrack is about 44 minutes long. I had to scour the internet to find a copy of the soundtrack at a decent price. I was fortunate that I did and I was not disappointed by what I heard. This soundtrack is definitely worth owning if you loved the movie as much as I do.
Top to learn more

July 10, 2009 (Windsor, Canada) | Helpful Votes: 31 | Rating: 5

Departures soundtrack
Sometimes, while watching a movie, there is a perfect union of story, ambiance, and emotion. Not ordinary emotion, rather an emotion so strong that it causes an incredible riot in the heart and feelings come to the surface that the person never dreamed were there. Often it is the musical score that joins the storyline with the acting that makes this happen. In Departures, this is exactly the case. At times wistful and sad this music captures you when you least expect it. The grand orchestral tracks are the most powerful in their beauty and depth and overwhelm you. You know immediately every emotion Mr. Hisaishi felt while composing this score.Joe Hisaishi has proven that he is the master of passion in music.
Top to learn more

August 31, 2009 (California) | Helpful Votes: 14 | Rating: 5

Product Description

CD ALBUM Top to learn more

very sensitive score
Score for Departures - Japanese movie.As the movie proceeds on a very gingerly pace so does the score. Mainly piano and cello. The piano describes the contents of the story whereas the cello follows theyoung man. The piano theme is like a slow rendition of "Blue Moon" but one doesnotrealize this because of the chord progressions which take the melody beyond the melodic line. It's only at the end that the two (piano and cello) merge. That's when the two motives: the growth of the young man in his profession and the personal conflicts unite to a conclusion.
Top to learn more

August 24, 2009 | Helpful Votes: 12 | Rating: 4

BUY Okuribito (Departures)

Buy Departures

This is an eight day cruise on the mega yachts of Harmony V and Harmony G. You will commence off with Athens and then shift on to Mykonos. The vessels that are used are the Mega Yacht known as Harmony G. The stops contain Kusadasi in Turkey, Santorini, Kea, Mykonos and Folegandros. This is an eight day package that will take in the major Islands talked about and has a equivalent price tag framework to meet the requirements of the household. You may possibly also make a decision to go with the mage yachts and motor sailors that can include a different dimension to the knowledge that you are acquiring while on the Greek Island holiday cruises. The June departures have a specific price tag at just over 1 thousand lbs for each man or woman. There are weekly departures from about April through to October. Frequently, the departures commence in summer time 2010. The departures run from April to Oct. You can go through Delos, Kusadasi, Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu, Zakynthos, Dubrovnik and Kotor. The locations include Kusadasi, Mykonos, Ephesus, Split, Corfu and Croatia.

While plenty of attention is paid to the hundreds of Merrill brokers who quit since BofA acquired the firm in 2008, citing the negatives of working for a big bank, recruiters expect similar numbers to leave out of roughly 1,000 Merrill brokers who... NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of legacy Bank of America brokers may form the next wave of departures from Merrill Lynch after many recently pocketed their retention bonuses, recruiters and former brokers say. "They keep grinding advisers on commissions and grinding clients on fees," said Bob Iglehart, a Palm Desert, California, adviser whose team left Merrill last year to join RBC Wealth Management. James Roeske, an adviser who started his career in 2000 at Merrill but jumped to BofA in 2003, said being part of Merrill again has helped his team amass $215 million in client assets and generate $2. But it's another thing to assess such fees on clients generating thousands of dollars in fees and commissions, some former brokers said. In October 2008, Bank of America brokers generating at least $350,000 in the prior year were awarded a 20 percent retention bonus payable over three years. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney charges an annual account fee ranging from $75 to $150 a year for households under $1 million in assets or clients who generate less than $10,000 of annual revenue. Also helping fuel the departures is annoyance at account maintenance fees that now apply to clients, say former brokers. One big motivator is that Merrill Lynch account fees, which had been waived for legacy BofA customers, took effect for the first time in January, former brokers said. There are also, to be sure, legacy BofA advisers who have thrived as part of Merrill, which has one of the strongest brands in financial services and has invested in technology and training to help its advisers boost revenue.

It’s tempting to see Craig Naylor’s departure from the helm of NSG as part of a broader allergic reaction to foreign best practice. In February, the company slashed projections for the year to March 31 from a 15 billion yen profit to a 2 billion yen loss, and said it would cut 12 percent of its workforce. A shrinking home market and a strong yen are pushing companies to buy into new markets overseas. But Naylor’s departure may have more to do with the company’s sliding earnings, particularly as Europe’s crisis and cuts in solar panel subsidies hit sales. There will be more: As foreign shareholdings rise and more Japanese retire, demand for international management skills will rise. The more they go abroad, the more Japanese companies will have foreign executives. Besides, it’s not as if Japanese boardrooms are totally devoid of foreigners.

Departures News

Issa Asks FCC to Explain Baker's Departure for Comcast After Deal Cleared

May 20 21:44:44 GMT 2011 Representative Darrell Issa asked the Federal Communications Commission to explain Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker's departure for Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), four months after she voted to let the company buy NBC Universal.
As Pauline Marois tries to reunite Parti Québécois, another member defects

“I didn't come to politics for a (ministerial) limousine,” Aussant said, adding that if he had stayed in financial services, he could easily buy his own limousine. While the trigger for the departures of Aussant and the three others is the insistence
Departures from GOP field stir a call to the undeclared

the subject of speculation that he will drop out in the wake of controversial remarks he made about House Republicans' plan to change Medicare from an entitlement program to one that would provide seniors with a voucher to buy their own insurance.