A Grave Task

Now, this is one of the few movies that I have ever viewed and thoroughly been touched by. The entire experience of this man; whether it be the lack of connection he has with his father, the life that he lives that relies so heavily upon work, or the escape he finds by some human created facet, all just speak so greatly to me. Masahiro is a character that I can genuinely relate to and that aspect made my connection to this movie so much greater.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, which actually surprised me greatly. I originally thought I would hate it, because it seemed to be so based upon music and this man with some cello. However, it turns out that music was such a great overlaying aspect of the movie that it seemed to play a small role in the outcome of the film, granted his job loss ion the orchestra is what led him to the departure position in the first place. But I was very happy when the movie turned out to be less of a musical and more an analysis of life and death. After all, aren't we merely pawns in the grand scheme of life?
The part that seemed to speak to me the most though was how people treated this man because of his position. I thought that his job would be seen as honorable. I mean he was the person who ensured that the deceased looked nice for the family on earth and for God in heaven. But that was definitely not the case. People viewed him as diseased and avoided him like he was the plague, Ryoko even left him when she found out. I just viewed that as very odd.
The other thing that stuck out to me about the movie was the symbol of the stone, given at the end and beginning. As a person who used to collect odd objects I thought it was so cool for this man to keep his son's rock with him and use it as a constant reminder of him. As someone who has seen a father and son hate each other and be brought together by some physical object, this spoke very deeply to me.
I very much enjoyed this movie, and I am glad that such a film exists to teach an essential cultural aspect of another country.

Hastily Attempts to Throw a Blog Together

Ahhh, forgive me for being really late!! Where does the time between weeks go?

Last week, we watched a wonderful film called Departures. I thought it was absolutely stunning. There were parts that made my eyes water, especially when Daigo's dad and the lady who owned the bath died.

But I really liked how the relationships in that movie developed. At first, Daigo kept saying how much he hated his dad for leaving the family when he was six, but when he played the cello and had memories of his father, you could tell that he was missing his old man. And then, in the end, after his father's death, you find out that they both deeply cared about each other by the fact that Daigo's dad kept Daigo's rock letter and that Daigo shed tears over the man's death.

I also liked Daigo's relationship with Mika and its ups and downs, but it seems like everything works out for those two in the end and she comes to terms with his profession, so that was nice.

He also makes friends at his job and spends Christmas with them, and it's neat to see them slowly grow closer as the film goes on.

I just really liked how all of the relationships went in that film. All of the relationships were treated with equal importance, which was great, because usually you see romantic relationships being more highly regarded than platonic relationships, but I don't think that happened here.

Dearly Departed

Departures was a totally emotional film, at least for me, I cried many times throughout. It had some great comedic moments sprinkled in that were amusing.

My favorite parts of the movie were probably two moments where the families of the departed were joyful despite the sorrow of the departure. One moment where the granddaughter of the deceased offered socks to put on her body commenting that their grandma always wanted to wear socks like theirs, and they cheerily said goodbye to her, there was no intense heartbreak, but a joyful send off. The other moment was when the daughter gave her father a kiss, leaving her lipstick mark on his forehead, causing the granddaughter and mother to laugh and all give him lipstick kisses as well.

I've always thought that death should be experienced in this way, sorrowful of the leave, but joyful in what was. I've always said I don't want people to have a funeral when I die, I want them to have a joyous celebration. I can't say I can speak clearly on how death should be celebrated, many people experience these emotions differently, and since I've never experienced the death of someone close to me I can't really speak truly on the matter.

My great-grandmother died this past year (or perhaps it was the year before that) and it did not affect me, but I had time to come to terms with any little sorrow I might've had on the matter when we visited her during her final days at the old folks home, and I didn't actually experience the service as I was sick the entire time. A part of me feels I wouldn't've been too upset over the matter, my great-grandmother was a very compassionate Christ-follower, and I know I'll meet her in Heaven when the time comes.

I've always felt death should not just be sadness and pain, we'll miss them, but we should also celebrate the life they had, the memories, and the fact that they're joining our Father in Heaven, and we will one day meet again.

As far as the movie, there was a mention by the cremator, of death being a "Gateway" and just another part of life, and once you pass through death you move onto the next thing. He said he liked to say "Goodbye, I'll see you again one day" to those being cremated. This was a nice echo of a somewhat Christian view-point.