Album of the Week

In the past couple of weeks I have been binge listening to a lot of Joe Hisaishi's work, most from Studio Ghibli however I have been listening to his score for the 2009 Oscar winner of the  Best Foreign Language Film Departures. The film is about an unemployed musician taking a job which involves preparing the deceased for burial. Departures was easily one of my favorite films of the early 2000s and still is, the film can be a real tearjerker. As a fan of Joe's work with Studio Ghibli, the music for Departures is reminiscent of his work on My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Ponyo but with a classical bent. There still is that familiar whimsical sound often heard in the aforementioned soundtracks. His music is really what made Departures so emotionally moving especially on track 11 and track 14 "Ave Maria". This weekend I will have to watch this movie again although I will need some Kleenex on hand for the tears that will be spilled during the film.