Our Departures (2018)

Who determines who is family?

In a world of harsh pains and challenges, most people can rely on family to get the through tough times. But does family only have to be blood deep? A film about the interlinks that bind people together.

While at the heart of this film is the reminder that family are the ones who are there for you now in the present, I felt this story needed a little more characterization. The film's three main protagonist do their parts well from what they we given in the script. Kasumi always brings the best characters who are internally struggling despite their cheerful exterior. Kunimura San I found to be kinda lacking in this movie. I felt like his character needed overall more depth and time to really make you care about the relationship his character was pushed into. The young Ryusei did very well, particularly in the heart wrenching essay segment.

The scenary shots in this movie are absolutely brilliant. There's a little dodgy CGI thrown in a brief scene but it didn't detract from the movie. The trains which are a focal point of the movie are lovingly shown and many of the themes of the movie revolve around the idea of trains. Timing, maintenance, speed, braking.. All of these can be metaphors for the delicate relationship dynamics in families. It teaches us nothing must be too overdrawn, it must all work together for a smooth arrival.

I'm not sure I would highly recommend this movie but it wasn't a non pleasant ride. Surprisingly despite its heavy moments it wasn't as tear inducing as I was expecting and that I think had to be the byproduct again of the characters having time to show us why we should cry along them. Overall a good slice of life type story for a nice afternoon to night.

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