Departures

Japan's `Departures' wins Oscar in upsetMonday, February 23, 2009 By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment WriterPrintJapan's "Departures," a film about a classical musician who prepares bodies for burial, won the Oscar for best foreign language film in an upset over the favored "Waltz With Bashir.""This is a new departure for me," director Yojiro Takita said while accepting the award. "And we'll be back, I hope.""Departures" is about a cellist (Masahiro Motoki) whose orchestra is disbanded and, desperate for work, becomes a funeral professional. The win should improve the film's U.S. box office when it debuts in May.But it's also likely to further frustrate critics of the foreign film category, which in recent years has gone without nominating several much acclaimed films.After a committee selects the nominees, the category is decided by Academy members who have seen exhibitions (not DVDs) of all the nominated films.Last year, many had questions when France's "Persepolis" and Romania's "4 Mont...

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