Departures [2008] – ★★★★1/2 Departures is the Japanese winner of the 2009 Academy Award in the category of the Best Foreign Language Picture. Loosely based on a memoir by Shinmon Aoki titled Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician, it tells the story of Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), an ex-cellist who comes to his home…
Tag: Joe Hisaishi
Studio Ghibli: “Only Yesterday” & “Kiki’s Delivery Service”
I. Only Yesterday [1991] – ★★★★1/2 “What “drives” animation is the will of the characters” (Hayao Miyazaki). Only Yesterday has a plot filled with highly emotional undercurrents and intelligence: a 27-year old unmarried woman, Taeko from Tokyo, visits countryside while reminiscing over her childhood of when she was a shy and creative fifth grader. Through…
Spotlight on Film 