Customer Reviews

After Life

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

A masterfully humorous, compassionate, quiet and moving film by a Japanese director whose work has primarily been in documentaries. The premise is strange but thought-provoking: after death, you have to choose one memory to take with you into eternity; everything else will be forgotten. In a brilliant series of cuts the staff at a run-down, out-of-the-way establishment explain this to the weekly intake of their "clients"--people who have just died. They have three days to decide; then the staff, with summer-camp-like enthusiasm, stages tiny films that recreate the memories. On the last day of the week the films are shown, and the clients vanish, one by one, as they relive the memories that are projected.

Kore-Eda worked with actors and scripts, actors telling the camera their own memories, and non-professionals; the marvellous cast mixes all three and it's impossible to tell which is which. A young girl wants to relive Splash Mountain, only to reconsider after a worker gently tells her that thirty others had made the same choice that year. A boastful roue explains that the memory of course has to be of sex--and then chooses something quite different. An old woman remembers dancing for her older brother's friends in a red dress, and shyly coaches the little girl who will play her in the memory film. And a seventy-year-old salaryman can find nothing worth remembering, so videotapes of his life are requisitioned--touching off what plot there is.

There are no flashbacks and little overt drama, but as the clients look back at their lives the staff are drawn in, and the viewers, too, can't help but wonder what memory would be worth living with for ever. What glows from the placid surface of this extraordinary film is the wonder and mystery of everyday things, the tenuous but rich beauty of merely living. "After Life"-- the Japanese title is "Wonderful Life"--is only ostensibly about death; no film of recent years has been more life affirming.

*
It is extremely rare for me to grace a film release with the coveted ''Five Star'' for a review score, but let me state for the record that dispite this scoring system's limitation to only ''five'' stars, I give Koreeda Hirokazu's ''After Life'' (Japanese title: ''Wonderful Life'') ''Nine Stars!'' It is a film that should be seen and taken to heart, despite whatever theological or eschatological beliefs the viewer may have. (This was not designed as or intended to be a religious film ... if it causes the viewer to reflect more deeply upon their particular religious ideology or to meditate on spiritual matters that's not necessarily a bad thing, but film clearly addresses something else entirely.)

Inspired by experiences he witnessed in his own family life , Koreeda-san presents the viewer with an intriguing premise: After death, you are taken to a processing center (or ''Limbo,'' if you will) ... While there you are given a deadline of only three days to choose just one memory that you can take with you into eternity -- These memories are then reproduced on film and shown on screen inside a special movie theatre that also serves as the launching pad to take you to your ''final destination'' as you ''relive'' (view) your most cherished memory.

The ''Limbo'' situation, as portrayed in this film, is unnervingly esoteric and confusing, and yet it offers an amazingly refreshing break from the stereotypically pristine, anticeptic, sterile, ''impersonal'' visual representations of post-life scenarios we've all been force-fed throughout history (much like the skinny effeminate visual representations of Jesus) and presents us with a setting that actually exudes a feeling of warmth, comfort, compassion, and familiarity, despite the obviously near-ramshackled and uninspiring state of this particular transfer point.

Some viewers may be a little put-off by the slowness of the film's pace, but this is extremely necessary for the important character development that takes place. Granted, the film could have done better by providing us with fewer ''initiates'' going through this particular processing phase, so as to allow for even deeper character development; at the same time, however, processing such a large group of people at one time, as presented in the movie, as well as the number of ''interviewers,'' provides us with a smorgasbord of personalities and motivations which highlights the vast differences and uniquenesses of the characters on screen and gives us added motivation to reflect on our own differences and uniquenesses, as well as how we act and interact with one other. (The final scene with Arata-san's character, ''Mochizuki,'' is especially touching.)

No, the film does not answer all of the questions it poses, nor does it really try to, nor do I think it should -- it is, for all intents and purposes, an examination into the human soul, if you will, and merely intends to have its viewers reflect on the more important questions raised and to motivate us into taking a long, deep, hard look at our very short lives and reflect on our most dear and cherished moments, and to not only ask ourselves ''which one'' memory would we choose to take with us and why, but to also ask ourselves if it could even be possible for us to select just one.

(For a deeper understanding of what Koreeda-san was trying to accomplish with this film, be sure to read the segment entitled ''Director's Statement'' on the DVD edition of the film.)

*********************

Hirokazu Kore-Eda is becoming a kind of modern-day Ingmar Bergman. Between AFTER LIFE and MABAROSI, he's proven that he's interested in the kind of morality-driven stories that the late Swedish filmmaker specialized in. AFTER LIFE is a wonderful film, full of skilled acting and brilliant storytelling. This is one of those all-too-rare movies that brings about hours of contemplation and discussion afterwards, and is a movie that you'll be proud to recommend. It's also a very well-photographed film, and is infinitely improved by a DVD rather than VHS viewing. Even those who aren't fans of foreign films will find much to love here; the story is universal and truthful that it transcends language barriers.

If you read the editorial review of the movie, you get the basic idea. However it just doesn't communicate the lyrical beauty and sweetness of the movie. I look at movies as just that, movies - not life altering experiences. To paraphrase Fran Liebowitz, "any place that sells JuJubees is not the home of high art." Not the case with this. It became the ultimate party/dinner/friend fodder. I mean really, given the one moment in your life where you could spend eternity, reliving it over and over again, which one would you choose? Much reflection, much looking at the past with different eyes. In this weird way, the movie actually *showed* me how to do it.

The ending is beautiful and poignant. The credits rolled and I was sitting there, tears in my eyes, dumbfounded.

This is not to say that the film doesn't have humor. It is, on top of the above, really, really charming. The acting is wonderful, the cast attractive in that wholesome Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland "Hey gang, let's put on a show!" kind of way (albeit a Japanese version), and it's clever. Totally worth your time and money. Hey, if you don't want to buy it right now, why not rent it? When you see how wonderful it is, you can come back here and spend some bucks.

If you could only choose one memory of your life to remember for all eternity, what would it be?

That's the heart of this delicate film by Japanese director/writer Hirokazu Kore-eda.

In the AFTER LIFE world, after death, people are sent to one of several waystations where they stay a week while deciding which memory to keep. This memory is then re-enacted and captured on film. At the week's end, the films are screened, and then the dead mysteriously move to the next stage of existence, within their single memory.

We follow one week in the.... uh.... lives (whatever) of a group of caseworkers at one waystation, and the 22 souls that they work with during that week.

Although (perhaps because) the premise of this film is fantastic and whimsical to the point of fragility, it is filmed mostly as a documentary (medium head shots of people talking and describing their favourite memories).

Kore-eda's background is, in fact, as a TV documentarian. He interviewed hundreds of non-actors and filmed them. Ten of the 22 cases in the film (we are not told which) are people who were interviewed rather than actors reading from written parts.

The caseworkers look like ordinary folks, as do the dead people, and the waystation looks like an old and dowdy college dorm. Very matter of fact.

There is also an actual story that's woven through the film, which involves several of the caseworkers, and a few of their cases. It's so lovely, and so naturally told, that I don't wish to spoil it for anyone watching the film.

The fascinating thing is that you can very easily distinguish and remember all the characters despite:

- there being so many (25+)

- the film being subtitled (and thus your attention partly split between reading and watching)

- not recognizing a single person on screen (and thus, not being able to resort to the "yeah, the Tom Hanks guy" shortcut)

- spending at least a minute interspersed through the film trying to figure out which memory of *your* life you'd choose

- (if you're me) trying to figure out some more "rules" of the film's world as it's unfolding.

My only criticism is that sometimes the actual photography is not polished. There are heads that get cut off in walking shots; all the non-static shots seem wobbly; lighting was somewhat uneven and the composition of shots (other than the static head shots) uneven. I hesitate to mention this since I'm sure most people don't notice this until it moves to the appallingly bad zone (which this film by no means reaches).

I am the DVD Producer who authored "Afterlife." I can understand the reviewers complaint about the subtitles being in the video, not as a menu driven feature. This was the only version of the master that was available for the DVD. I certainly would have loved to have a new digital master from a pristine print without the subtitles and a DVD subtitle feature, but it just wasn't possible for this release, given the timetable and budget constraints. One of the problems with DVD releases of "Indy/Art" films ( and I don't mean that in any kind of negative way) is that availability of masters specifically for a DVD are hard to come by. We had to use the master that was created for the VHS release in the USA, which was created with the subtitles. I hope that this doesn't detract too much from the film, because it's a great film and I think that anyone that buys the DVD and watches the film will feel that they got their money's worth. At least I hope so, even though in an ideal world I would have loved to do this film justice with a new, pristine master created specifically for the DVD release.

I agree with earlier reviewers that the English title of this film, "After Life," is a bit misleading, because this film is not really about what happens after death; it is about the moments in which we feel truly alive. (The original Japanese title, "Wonderful Life," is more fitting, but was probably scrapped for marketing reasons.) The movie's premise, that immediately following death we must pick a single memory to experience for all eternity, is just a vehicle for a much more important focus: what do we really hold dear in life, and what is worth holding onto?

The tone is quiet, unassuming, and at times even pragmatic. The characters, caught mid-conversation, talk directly and candidly to the screen. They reminisce about their lives, their loved ones, their joys and their regrets. They chatter on about the mundane and reflect on what their purpose, if any, in life, might have been. There are a lot of laughs in this movie that come from these scenes; it's the kind of empathetic humor you find in relating to a friend who's just recounted a funny experience or made an idiosyncratic but insightful comment.

In preparing for this movie, the director Kore-eda interviewed countless people about their most cherished memories, and interspersed some of this footage among the scripted scenes with no mention of which ones are real and which are scripted. This tactic, along with the clean, simple, interview style of both scripted and real scenes, gives the film the feel of an intimate documentary.

"After Life" is too modest to impose any particular positions on the viewer, but few who watch it will not be drawn to look inward. This is a film that invites many conclusions, both about one's own life and more generally, what is universally important. Very few films can successfully pull off such lofty reflections on human life, and even fewer do it with the grace, subtlety, and humility of this one.

Watch this movie when you're fully awake and alert; this is a quiet, and at times slow movie, but it deserves every second of your attention.

I can't add much to what other reviewers have said: this is a fine, understated, and deeply moving film. Where other film-makers rely on orchestral music and contrived situations as old as Western theatre to twang your heartstrings, this one uses reality: the reality of human existence. For that reason it twangs the ol' heartstrings louder and more musically than the most expensive Hollywood super-packaged drama.

The fundamental human tragedy is that we grow old and have to leave this world, and all the memories we've accumulated, like refugees driven from our homes. Against this tragedy, of which young people are mercifully unconscious and the middle-aged all-too-conscious, all other tragedy is played out like busy action in front of a grand unmoving backdrop.

Rather than promising us a saccharine-sweet Heaven (as in 'What Dreams May Come') to paint a Disney happy-ending over the fundamental sorrow of life, this film offers us a moral and intellectual challenge -- to discover the one precious thing we would save from "this burning house" and take with us into an Eternity so different, so strange, that in it we will have become nothing but this one vivid memory.

Few films I've ever seen have captured the poignancy of time and its passage, the emotional wealth and fragility of old age, the tragedy of life wasted, the depth of human self-deception, and the capriciousness with which meaning, like lightning, strikes in any life and illuminates some completely unexpected moment. Plenty of writers and directors have tried. But this film -- unpretentious, gentle, quiet, and full of a kindly, self-deprecating humour -- captures all of that and more.

The only jarring note -- and it may have been introduced deliberately to preserve a realistic "japanese bureaucracy" feeling in the processing centre -- is that there's only one female staff member (and she's always the one serving tea, too)... While this may irritate the feminist viewer a little, it's a minor irritation in a nearly perfect film.

This is a fine film, a delight. I confidently predict it will stand the test of time and in 20 years be considered a classic. See it and think about your life :-)

Kore-Eda lays out a simple premise for this film shot in the documentary style he favors. The recently deceased arrive at a non-descript office building in a seen-better-days part of a city and are told in individual interviews that before proceeding to afterlife they are to choose one moment of their lives that they wish to carry with them for all eternity. The staff on site (and it is a real revelation when you realize at some point in the film who they are) will help them as necessary to choose, nudging them when the selection might be, let's say, not quite individual enough. The staff then set to work with their fairly woeful and low-tech props and camera equipment to film that moment for the dead one's lasting memory. In one case, for example, a man's recollection of flying requires modifying the one stock plane available. This is a film of quiet tenderness, respect, humor, and regret. An affirmation of the simple, wondrous fact of human existence, it is also in its gentle plot line a four-sided love story across the boundary of life, this stopping place and beyond. When the inevitable time comes for all of us, a chance to recall this film may make the moment of letting go easier.

I absolutely loved this film, although I realize it's not for everyone.

Most of it consists of delicate little snippets of conversation with a group of recented deceased people. They relate stories of moments in their lives, with such beauty and poignancy and realism that one could imagine this a documentary. The "acting" (although it hardly seems to be acting at all!) is uniformly excellent.

In tiny snatches, we come to know quite lot about them. Best of all, the movie makes you think about life -- have we lived the kind of life that creates a memory we'd want to spend eternity with?

Kore-eda Hirokazu (the director) manages that rare combination of humor, pathos and intellect that makes this film a winner.