Oscar winner DEPARTURES - Director Yokiro Takita is interviewed by Jenny K. Woo and Suzanne Joe Kai

Oscar winner DEPARTURES by Director Yokiro Takita is interviewed by Jenny K. Woo and Suzanne Kai.

Yojiro Takita, director of the Oscar-winning film DEPARTURES, talks with AsianConnections Jenny K. Woo and Suzanne Joe Kai about his challenges in creating his film.

The original idea to focus the film on the profession of encoffiners, people who prepare bodies for burial and the journey beyond, came from the lead actor, Masahiro Motoki (The Longest Night in Shanghai). Motoki became inspired by encoffiners through his travels in India and reading about the coexistence of life and death.

The Japanese film delicately balances comedy and humor with the subject of death, and deftly weaves in other sensitive topics such as unemployment, dark secrets, and relationships. The films well-defined characters are played by a strong ensemble cast including Ryoko Hirosue (Wasabi), Tsutomu Yamazaki (Tampopo), and Kimiko Yo (The Ramen Girl).

Takita said with a grin that hes been busy beyond belief since his movie won the Oscar this year for Best Foreign Language Film. With the mix of unique characters, graceful storytelling, and a fantastic score by Joe Hisaishi (Howls Moving Castle, Spirited Away), it is no wonder why this movie has earned an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Not to be missed! DEPARTURES U.S. theatrical release date is May 29, 2009.

Q: Congratulations on the Oscar win and the film. How has life changed for you since the Academy Awards? (Interview translation provided by Taro Goto.)

Takita: It doesnt really feel like anything has changed in my life per se, but the Oscar has increased the number of offers we get for distribution in other countries. Today we have distribution deals placed with 16 plus countries including the U.S., as you know, and many countries in Europe, and across Asia as well. We have received awards in many different countries, including in China. And were looking forward to seeing how the American audience responds.

Q.: Why did you want to go into making films?

Takita: As a child I really wasnt sure what I wanted to do with my life, but I had a chance to meet a director and was able to become an assistant director soon after. It was being an AD that really allowed me to learn about the joys of cinema, the joy of filmmaking. Since then I wanted to become a director myself. And I think some god must be watching over me to allow me to make films.

Q.: Is it considered such a terrible job in Japan to take care of a dead body?

Takita: The film may exaggerate it a little bit in order to create the character, Daigo. In reality, the occupation may not be quite as looked down upon as it might look like. But it is certainly not seen an appealing vocation. And one example may be that if you were to go to a funeral and see such a ceremony being practiced, the bereaved family members may appreciate the beauty and the gestures and the entire ritual and say, Thank you. But if you were to ask that person, Would you be interested in taking on this vocation yourself?, theyll probably say, No. So its not a blatant prejudice they may experience, but its a certain aversion to the idea of death. They want to distance themselvesand death itself, the intent is to look away.

Q.:Tell me a little bit how you chose the composer.

Takita: Joe Hisaishi is the composer. Hes very, very talented. Weve actually collaborated before on another film, and he composed a fantastic score at the time we made the film, Unforgettable, for me. Hes able to express the characters thoughts so effectively with the music. Theres something deeply human about them. With this film, I gave him a rather difficult task which is to use the cello as the primary instrument. I think he did that in flying colors and came up with a score that allows us to emotionally identify with the protagonist very closely. I have to say that I have full trust with him as an artist and intend to work with him on future projects.

While were on the subject of music, I should point out that I was really trying to emphasize, the five senses with this film. For instance, the nature that surrounds them is very harsh in the winter but is also very beautiful at times. I wanted to place the character in there to show something very distinctively Japanese with the aesthetic and to have the character playing cello within the scene. I was very tuned to sound, obviously.

The absolute silence while the encoffinment is taking place heightens the little sounds. For instance, the fabric rusting against each other, or the hushed sounds of the bereaved family members, or the drip drop from the towels as they clean the bodies. Theres also the smell, which you cannot convey cinematically, but I think you can always (get) a sense from how the characters respond. Theres the joy of eating. Theres also the sensual part of touching corpses. All these I was very attuned to.

You can also say that the cello has something very sensual about it. Its appropriate that the act of playing a cello seems very close to cradling a human body, like the encoffiners have to do. And I think theres an appropriateness to choosing the cello as the main instrument.

Q.: Death is, in probably all cultures, a difficult subject. And Ive seen a few Japanese films now that I find deal very well with the interaction between life and death. Is there anything in Japanese culture that facilitates that kind of approach?

Takita: I think there is something that exists in Japanese culture that does facilitate that. Even though the dead body, a corpse, is seen as something filthy, paradoxically they still see life existing beyond the body. So during the August 1 festival season, Japanese households do certain rituals to call the spirits back to the household. They present sake, fruits, incense and other things. For a few days, the spirits seem to be back with them. And then after the few days are over, they return them to heaven and wish them the best in the other world. So I think there is a strong belief in Japanese society that the spirit lives beyond the body.

Also a few times a year, every Japanese family will visit their ancestors tombs and give offerings. I think its another evidence that there is a certain connection or continuity between life and death that the spirits do live on, which is why its so important for them to see off the departed as they see from a certain perspective.

Q.: What was the most difficult thing you had to overcome to film this?

Takita: The most difficult challenge was treating death as a theme itself, and the concerns we had of how the film would turn out, and how the film would be received because of the delicate subject matter.

Q.: How was it received in Japan?

Takita: Encoffinment is not commonly known in Japan. Its a very niche service thats being provided. So most Japanese people learned about the profession of encoffiners for the first time with this film. I think most of them were able to see in the characters something in themselves. And learn that to face death means to be able to reassess ones life and to see the value in living. And I think it moved many people, and thats probably what led to the great commercial and critical success.

Q.: The comic side was perfect. As a director, what were some of your challenges in striking that perfect balance of comedy?

Takita: I think the balance between comedy and the more serious drama in the film was a very difficult challenge. I was careful not to use any excessive humor or excessive drama. Im not interested in manipulating the audience to laugh or cry. Rather I think often you find humor and comedy simply in characters that are doing something very seriously. When somebody delves into a certain task with all the seriousness in the world, the humor, or the absurdity, sometimes comes out on its own. So I didnt want to force the issue. I was also careful to make sure the audience is able to emotionally identify with the protagonist as early as possible, because youre not going find something funny unless you are in that situation and know it could happen to anyone. So oftentimes youre laughing not at him, but with him as he experiences the different things in his journey.

Q.: It seemed like the timing in the film was great in that everything that was in the movie was supposed to be there, nothing gratuitous. Was there a lot you had to cut out?

Takita: Editing was obviously a struggle for this film. As filmmakers we like to calculate how to pace things out. But its very difficult to predict how that pacing will feel to the audience. And I think that with this film there were many still moments that maybe concerned whether the audience is going to have enough patience with the film. But editing is obviously important, we did spend a lot of time in it. We paid a lot of attention to emphasizing certain elements within the very still moments so that people may have something interesting.

Q.: Did you do any particular research into encoffinment or the industry of encoffinment?

Takita: We did a lot of research on the encoffiners. I had read about encoffiners previously, but had never seen it prior to working on the film. So both myself and the lead actor, Motoki, went to visit professional encoffiners at work. We witnessed them and also trained under them as assistants so that we had hands-on experience.

Q.: When you were first learning the process, what was your first reaction to it?

Takita: When I first had hands-on experience working with the bodies, with the encoffinment process, I was first impressed with how still everything felt in the space. Theres a certain quiet stillness to the entire atmosphere within which the encoffiner has to work. Every little sound felt very fresh. I was struck by how sacred and how beautiful the entire process felt. The dead body wasnt something to fear. I found it to be very beautiful. And of course, you need to touch and wash the body and you do that with a lot of tenderness. More than anything else, I was struck by the almost-magical process by which the encoffiners have to return the body, especially the face, to the moment when the departed person was shining the brightest in their lives, the most beautiful. It was very impressive.

Q.: How old is that tradition? Do you think it will last?

Takita: Im not quite sure when the tradition started exactly. What I do know is that the process of putting the bodies in the caskets was typically conducted by families, friends, and community members. The profession of an encoffiner emerged as a niche service at some point. I think thats fairly recent. Im sorry I dont have the exact date, but I can say that theres likely to be an increase in the number of encoffiners from here on mainly because the film and its success spurred many people to be interested in the occupation. Ive heard from some people that theres people of all different ranges that have expressed interest in taking on the occupation. And also those who want to be seen off in that manner. So I think its going to raise the demand for that occupation. Who knows? Maybe at some point in the U.S. well start seeing that happen, too.

Q. What are your future projects?

Takita: I have a few projects that Ive been considering and weighing. But thanks to the Oscar, Ive been busy beyond belief. And once everything settles, Im sure Ill get a chance to think about what the next project is going to be.

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