I regret missing the movie when it was first shown. It has received raving review when it was first shown in Singapore. My interest was piqued especially when it was a movie about death – a taboo in many Asian cultures.
The male lead was a cellist in the orchestra. When the orchestra was disbanded, he went back to his home-town with his wife. He was attracted by a job ad in the papers recruiting people to help others in their journey. He mistook this to be a job in the tourism industry. He only found that the ‘journey’ referred to a person’s final journey after he was recruited and the job was encoffinture – preparing the dead before placing them in the coffin.
Many were repelled by his job, including himself and his wife. It was only when he saw his boss preparing one of the dead with such elegance and dignity that he understood the importance and meaning of his job. All those who initially were against his job changed their minds when they saw the meaning of his job.
I was moved. It has also changed my perception of death. My respect for those who helped the dead with their final journey grew tremendously. Death is but another phase in life, just like coming of age, marriage and birth. It is only that in this last phase in life, one remains oblivious to and has no control over the decisions being made.
Despite the heavy subject, the movie was felt with humour which lightened the solemn topic without being disrespectful or turning it into a circus. The humour was subtle, such as determining the make-up to be used for a transvestite – male or female or the scene where the girlfriends of a dead Casanova leaving kisses all over his face.
It was the first time that I learnt of the beauty of the cello. In an orchestra, a cello rarely took centre-stage among the string instruments. It often formed the bass with its pitch being lower range. In the movie, cello became the melody rather than the accompaniment. Not only was the low range pitch unboring, it was also more soothing to the ears compared to the higher pitch violin or viola.
The movie is moving in that it creates a dull ache in your heart. This ache stays long in your heart everytime you remember scenes of the movie unlike Korean dramas which leave you teary but often short-term. It also sets you thinking about death without it being too overwhelming and scary. Please watch it if you have the time. I hope you enjoy the movie as well as I do.
P.S. The Japanese name of the movie is "Okuribito".
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