Yōjirō Takita Attending Grand River Film Festival This Year

I just noticed via Twitter that it looks like Yōjirō Takita, the director of Departures, is going to be attending the Grand River Film Festival this year. For those of you who, like me, weren't following the Academy Awards this year, Departures won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Departures director Yōjirō Takita

I haven't seen Departures, so I was planning on attending the matinee showing on the 24th with some friends. According to the GRFF press release, Takita will be there for the screening to answer audience questions after the show (via an interpreter), which is pretty cool. I've been to a couple of movie premiers in Toronto with after-movie director Q&A, and it's always been pretty great. Being in direct interaction with the audience tends to make for discussion that is much more candid than the carefully composed and pre-prepped interviews with the media. Given the off-beat feel for this movie I've gotten from reviews and the trailer, I think Takita should have some pretty interesting stories to tell. Takita will also be attending the Closing Gala on Saturday the 24th, and some portions of the GRFF's Indie Lounge.

There's a rather sheer crevasse of opinion separating blog reviews and the metacritic / rottentomato scores for Departures, a rift which seems caused by differing levels of appreciation for quirky slice-of-life dramas. To be honest, I love quiet slice-of-life dramas where you go away from the film feeling that maybe the world isn't as bad as it seems. I get a little overloaded with the continual bombardment of dramas that seem hell-bent on grinding their way to catharsis through a non-stop barrage of pity and fear, so when a movie like Departures comes along I end up getting a little excited to not be... excited.