Asian Cinema At Its Best

Whenever American cinema seems stale to me (and it often does), I’m always game for globe hunting. When globe hunting, I usually end up in Asia, which is what I did this past week. Usually I indulge in Asian horror before the Americans dumb it down beyond recognition, but I decided to branch out even further, into a non-Miyazaki anime and an Oscar-winning drama.

My first film this week is 2006’s “The Girl who Leapt through Time”. This is an animated film and was one of the first films to receive the Japanese Animation Award. It’s the story of young girl who discovers she can slip in and out of time at will. But while time-hopping, she learns the more important lesson that all actions have consequences.

This is actually a movie that I hope American never revamps, because to touch it in any way would be a crime. The story is much deeper than anything Pixar or Disney could come up with, and the drawings are still extremely colorful and interesting. The plot had me hanging on repeatedly and I ended up in tears.

I’m a big fan of Miyazaki’s work, and I’m now very glad to know there are others out there who did the same thing. I found the film by default on a website listing the Top 10 films of that year. I’ll be trying to get my hands on the others.

The second film this week is “Departures”. This film won last year’s Foreign Language Film Oscar, beating out a personal favorite, France’s “The Class”. At the time, I didn’t understand that, but now I wholeheartedly agree. This isn’t one of the best Asian films I’ve seen – it’s one of the best films I’ve EVER seen.

“Departures” tells the tale of a young, married cellist. When his current orchestra shuts down due to lack of funds, he has to change careers abruptly in order to continue to support his family. Finding a very generalized want ad asking only for people to work with departures, he applies and is hired. The catch is that the boss is actually a mortician, and the departures are for the departed.

What could be a very depressing film is actually quite moving. The ceremonies that are conducted by those left behind are nothing short of amazing. I wish they did something like that in this country – I’d be all for it. It’s rare that a film both honors a culture and transcends it at the same time, but this one completely pulls it off.

It’s an unexpectedly weepy drama, and I ended up with red swollen eyes the next day, but it’s completely worth it. I can’t recommend it enough – whether you can stand the subtitles or not.

So when you’re sick of the snow and ice that’s here, feel free to take a trip – on me. I promise you that you won’t regret it!

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" - Unrated, 98 minutes (****)
"Departures" - Rated PG-13, 130 minutes (****)