Clips from Foreign Language Oscar Winner, 'Departures'

In the long, proud tradition of Japanese cinema, Departures stands alone in its history. The film isn't just a Best Foreign Langauge Film winner at the Academy Awards, it's the only Japanese movie to ever win in that category at the Oscars. Three movies in the 1950s were given honorary awards, Rashomon, Gates of Hell, and Samurai, The Legend of Musashi. The rules were slightly different then, as the honorary trophies were handed out to foreign language films that had exhibited in the United States the previous year. Now, they only have to open in their countries of origin. The funny thing about it is that, after three honorary Oscars for Japanese films in a five-year span, the category became official the very next year, 1956, perhaps in part because Japanese films were so good and were gaining international attention thanks to directors like Akira Kurosawa and Ishiro Honda, who made Godzilla. And in the 50-plus years since it became an official award, Japan had never earned the Oscar. Departures was certainly not favored to win over Waltz with Bashir and The Class, but now that it has, the film will probably be on more peoples' radars here in the United States and around the world. Unfortunately, Regency hasn't added any new dates to the release schedule since the win, so where it's playing and when is still up in the air. I would expect to see it get at least a small theatrical run before the DVD release. As for the story, it's about a classical musician who takes a job at a mortuary after his orchestra disbands. Here's a collection of clips from Departures, courtesy of Trailer Addict: