Once again I find myself writing under the influence of various prescription narcotics as I recover from my latest malady, so please accept the usual apologies for any slurred typing or off kilter ramblings. Well, any more than usual, anyway.Departures is a film I feel I should have heard more about. I don't stay abreast of foreign features as much as I'd like, but I feel that whenever any that are widely deemed great come along, then the chances are that I've at least heard of them, yet 's slow, personal, moving story of an unemployed cellist discovering self confidence in the most unlikeliest of places has completely passed me by, despite winning the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2009, beating out the likes of Waltz With Bashir, The Baader Meinhof Complex and The Class, all of which I've heard of and two of which I've seen. I can't really explain why I've not heard of it, though I'm certain it was never released in any cinemas near me, hardly surprising, considering how many screens were booked up for Twilight: New Moon, released one week previously.
