Apart from the fact that both won awards, both portray the stories of people who went through a situation and came out of it with changed mind sets. Both of these experiences taught humility, discipline, a reality check, a new perspective on the 'less appealing' sides to things (like for Departures, the MC learns to respect a job he once thought was degrading and in The Way Home, the MC learns to accept his grandmother and the poor conditions she lives in), teach us the importance of family values and to keep an open mind.