Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame VI

A Strange Variety of Film Reviews | The New Flesh: A David Cronenberg Club
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Departures

A cellist loses his job in a Tokyo symphony and has to move back to his hometown with his wife. He starts looking for work and comes across an add that he thinks is some kind of travel agent thanks to a misprint. I suppose you could call it kind of a travel agent but nobody is looking forward to this vacation. It's actually a job for encasking (?), I think that's what they called it. People who prepare the dead for their next journey. It's quite the ceremony. Well, the Boss hires him on the spot. So we follow Daigo around as he learns his new job, catches up with old acquaintances and everything that comes with it.

I thought this was going to be a light comedy and it certainly, kind of, started off that way but it turns into something else completely and I was not ready for it. I don't know if it was the mood I was in or what but this was the right movie, at the right time, for me. I don't have any complaints at all. I usually don't get misty from movies but there's a moment that got to me. It's a scene where Daigo performs the ceremony on a lady he knew. In this scene everything kind of becomes clear and comes together for him. This scene was set up perfectly, earlier in the film, through interactions with Daigo's wife and a childhood friend and really delivers in a kind of happy/sad moment.

There's more going on with the story than just that. Daigo is also dealing with some personal issues about abandonment and a few other things (he is married after all) and it's all handled seamlessly. Nothing feels out of place or rushed or overstays it's welcome and it may be the best written movie I've seen in quite a while. The cast is great. There isn't a wasted character and they all feel genuine. I really liked the Boss - a man of few words and very perceptive. Right away he see's something in Daigo and knows this, this job, is what Daigo needs to be doing.

One final thought. Thanks for making Daigo a cellist and not a trumpeter or tromboner or French Horner (no offense to any of you brass sectioners). I'm a fan of string instruments and the sound of the cello is perfect for this story. This was absolutely fantastic.

Five Easy Pieces

Jack plays Bobby, a guy trying to find his place in the world. The film starts off showing Bobby working a very rough job, living a very ordinary life with his girlfriend and hanging out with his "buddy". We get the sense early that Bobby, he's not a good guy. He's a prick to his girlfriend, thinks little of his friend and once he hears word about his father being sick (his gf's pregnancy may have had an influence as well) he see's it as a chance to split. A lesser of two evils. There's a pretty good moment, right before Bobby takes off, where he announces to his boss that he's quitting, he's gonna stick it to the boss kind of moment, only for the boss to pretty much say "Good. Glad to be rid of ya." Bobby looks dumbfounded at the boss' reply as if to say "What? Me? Seriously?" And that's the thing with Bobby. He thinks he's more important than he is.

The movie then continues with a small road trip up to his fathers place. Bobby reluctantly brings his GF and picks up a couple of filthy hitchhikers along they way who are consumed by consumerism. This is the part of the film that leads to the iconic diner scene. A scene, I'm happy to say, that lives up to the hype.

Bobby finally arrives at his fathers home - alone. He leaves his gf at a motel because he's a dick and it would be embarrassing showing up with a woman who is not quite up to his standards. Also, by this time we know that Bobby is a fantastic musician, he used to play in Vegas, which leads to another pretty good scene where the fiance of Bobby's brother asks him to play her something on the piano, which he does. To her, that piece and him playing it means something. To him - nothing. "It was the easiest piece I could think of." A few more things happen and the movie ends the only way it could.

I can see why this movie is well regarded. It's a 70's movie to the core. Like many of the era, it's about a seriously flawed character. It's very well acted, Jack is great and Karen Black who plays his gf is really good as well. I love the cinematography and the locations they filmed especially the first 2/3 of the film. This is one of the big movies of the 70's that I felt I needed to see. Was a big blind spot for such a long time so I'm glad to have finally been urged to watch it.