Departures 2008  N/R, 131 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Okuribito
Director: Yojiro Takita
Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano, Yukiko Tachibana, Tetta Sugimoto, Toru Minegishi, Tatsuo Yamada
Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a cellist who loses his job when his orchestra disbands. He and his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) move back to Daigo's hometown in northern Japan, and Daigo answers an employment ad titled "Departures." The job entails working for a mortuary as a gatekeeper between the departed and the family of the departed. While all around him disapprove of his new job, Daigo takes pride in what he does and discovers his true purpose in life. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
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Wasabi 2001  R, 94 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Gerard Krawczyk
Cast: Jean Reno, Michel Muller, Ryoko Hirosue, Carole Bouquet, Ludovic Berthillot, Yan Epstein, Michel Scourneau, Christian Sinniger, Jean-Marc Montalto, Alexandre Brik
After French police inspector Hubert Fiorentini (Jean Reno) was reprimanded by his chief and ordered to take two months off, Hubert receives a message from Japan that Miko, the lover who left him 20 years earlier, has died. Hubert, as executor and heir to the $200 million estate, is named to take care of their 19-year-old daughter, Yumi (Ryoko Hirosue), for two days–when she turns 20. Once in Japan to meet the daughter he had not known existed until now, Hubert begins to suspect foul play concerning Miko's death, and it isn't long for his questionable police tactics to come to the fore.
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| 1. Departures (2008)
aka: Okuribito
2. Wasabi (2001)
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