015 4 The idea - moving through the transition from this life to the next - is not a new one , and there is plenty of room for imaginative storytelling . But compare the simplicity and understated elegance of writer / director Hirokazu Kore-Eda's AFTER LIFE to the gaudy , superficial , and star-studded Hollywood production DEFENDING YOUR LIFE , and you will see the difference between cinematic art and cinematic entertainment . I have watched AFTER LIFE three times and enjoyed it more each time I've seen it . Not only does it leave you thinking about your own life , it fills you with an almost Zen-like appreciation for life's unique small pleasures , the ones most easily overlooked or forgotten in the crush of everyday life .
The basic story line is simple . After dying , the deceased migrate in small groups to special facilities where they have three days to choose a memory from their life that is particularly meaningful to them . They will be permitted to carry that one memory into the next life . The staff at each facility assists them in choosing and prepares a short film that replicates each person's special event to strengthen the memory just before they pass to the other side . AFTER LIFE presents one week's group at one facility , ranging from a teenage girl who wants to choose Disneyland to an old man who can't seem to choose anything . Mixed into this group are several elderly women , a rebellious young man who refuses to choose , and an older man who insists from the beginning that his choice will involve having sex .
Kore-Eda uses a pseudo-documentary style , complete with unsteady camera movements and obvious jump cuts in the personal interviews . The background is anything but celestial , looking more like an abandoned prep school dormitory or army barracks , complete with bare walls , peeling paint , and the most Spartan of furniture . Seasons change , flowers bloom , snow falls , the moon rises , and cars even pass by this not-very-ethereal place , as if the location of this limbo was just an out-of-the-way corner of a big city that no one happened to notice any more . The choice is masterful , allowing us to focus entirely on the deceased group and the consultants who assist them ( all of whom have never been able to choose their memory and have thus stayed behind ) .
Of all possible weeks , Kore-Eda presents this group for its special relationship to Michizuki , one of the staff consultants . Although he appears to be just 22 or 23 , Michizuki died 53 years earlier , shot in the Philippines during World War II . Although he is the object of another consultant's affections , the young Shiori ( a Japanese Meg Tilly look-alike ) , Michizuki discovers that he has a romantic connection through one of the people in that week's group to a woman who died several years earlier . When he learns the nature of the deceased woman's feelings for him from the memory she chose to take to her afterlife , Michizuki finally finds the reason and the courage to select his cherished memory and move on to his next life .
AFTER LIFE is a wonderfully uplifting story , filled with likable characters who are remarkable for seeming so average . Despite the subtitling , this is a movie you can hardly help but fall in love with . Kore-Eda's message , and the self-reflection he evokes , is as powerful as any Sunday sermon you're likely to hear . Of course , you'll inevitably find yourself trying to answer the movie's central question - what single memory of your life would you take with you to whatever comes next ?
001 4 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 .
002 4 *
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 . )
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
004 4 This review is from :
After Life [ VHS ] ( VHS Tape )
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 .
005 4 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 .
006 4 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 ) .
007 4 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 .
008 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
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 .
009 4 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 .
010 4 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 : - )
011 4 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 .
012 4 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 .
013 4 You'll be staying with us for one week . Everyone gets a private room . Just relax and enjoy yourself . But while you're here , there is one thing you must do . From the entire X years of your life , we need you to select one memory . One memory that was most meaningful or precious to you . There is a time limit . You have three days to decide . When you've chosen your memory , our staff will do their best to recreate if on film . On Saturday , we'll screen the film for you . As soon as you've relived your memory , you will move on , taking only that memory with you .
Whoa , how's that for a premise and assignment in this documentary-style movie ? That's what the staff of the limbo between death and the afterlife tell the arrivals who have died the previous day . The staff includes the boss Nakamura and counselors Mochizuki , a sensitive soul , it turns out , Sugite , and Kawashima . There's also Shiori , a sullen young woman who assists Mochizuki , as well as others . They are hard-working and detail-oriented , trying to get the day , season , weather , atmosphere , environment , all so it can be duplicated on film . And the evening conferences they have with their Nakamura shows the great Japanese work ethic and empowerment the staff have . The courtesy and patience towards the deceased shown by the staff was really wonderful .
The set-up's not glamorous-a spartan old schoolhouse with falling paint , none of your pearly gates and St . Peter peering at the Heaven or Hell registry through his specs . There's also some nearby woods and a studio for filming .
I was saddened by the number of young people who died . 35 , 29 , there was even one schoolgirl in her teens who initially chose Disney's Splash Mountain . Which made me think , what happened to them ? How did they die ? Did that girl commit suicide , get into an accident , get murdered ? Certain others , like the pleasant Tatori Kimiko , who died aged 78 , seem to have lived fuller lives and a greater appreciation for it .
There are some problem people . One of Mochizuki's clients is Watanabe Ichiro , someone who died aged 71 and has the staff order videotapes of his life for him to peruse so he can pick his memory . His request delays things a bit . Another is an old lady who looks like a dumpling and seems to be in her own little world .
The most interesting is the 21 - year old Iseya , who confounds the staff by refusing to choose a memory as a way to take responsibility . He even spins a post-structuralist philosophy in giving his reason why he should be able to choose a dream and explains why I wouldn't want to choose either . Ultimately , we end up turning memories into our own images . Of course it really happened , so it feels very real . But in creating his own futuristic dream like a film , with imagined situations , would be a lot more meaningful than looking back at my past . So this look back at the past , living with a single moment from my past would be too painful for me . He even has the chutzpah to say that their system is the problem , not him . Yeah , I'd rather choose fantasies or dreams , but it reveals how objective the staff are , striving for accuracy , getting actual memories , the primary sources , to use a historic research term , and not fiction . But what if one isn't able to choose ? That is explained but that'd be a spoiler .
Most people don't live extraordinary lives . Face it , we all can't make great albums like the White Album , get married to a hot film star , or gloat in the wake of a seven figure salary . And that about sums up all the people portrayed here . For them , they choose simple things , things appealing to the senses . What does that play for those trying to find out the meaning of life ?
An intriguing premise and idea , well executed , and very thought-provoking . As Peter Davison says in Dr . Who-The Five Doctors : A man is the sum of his memories , you know . The difference with Afterlife is that a person becomes the zenith of one's memories . If it's possible for one like me who's had a rotten life to take that one memory and forget everything else , wouldn't that indeed be Heaven ?
014 4 There are many films referred to as ' lifelike , ' as a positive attribute . This marvelous film - ironically about a post-mortem limbo world - is one of few that actually earns the term .
AFTER LIFE's contents are well-summarized by many other reviewers here , so I'd rather point out a few other notable aspects of the films , rather than rehash previous comments .
Kore'eda's roots were in documentary work , and a fascination with the kinds of stories that might unfold right before our eyes is one is strongly explored here , and in his other work . The same holds true for memory - specifically it's instability , it's idealistic qualities , and it's romantic nature . This focus was - according to Kore'eda - actually inspired by the Alzheimers-related decline of his grandfather ( a major personal influence and role-model ) - and this interest was also powerfully explored in his earlier MABOROSI ( grief and growing beyond grief ) , and DISTANCE ( a real masterpiece , charting the shifts between grief , blame , redemption and forgiveness between individuals who survivied a cult terror attack ) .
In AFTER LIFE , the same themes are allowed to slowly unfold , with a slow and recollective quality that - to me - has always been riveting . The film is very quiet in its ' nature , so it may not be for everyone , but the drift towards naturalistic revelations is handled brilliantly here , leading to surprising moments of tenderness , and of dry and unexpected humor . This is a film in which nothing feels forced , but a gradually-coalescing story does emerge , and move along on its ' own hypnotic power .
There is yet another theme present here as well - the transformative magic of film as a creative medium . The varied memories of the recently departed are commemorated in / as short films , improvisationally staged , which - under Kore'eda's guidance - is something of a love letter to film's potential as something democratic , and something that could record the spontaneous history and magic within ' ordinary ' lives .
Successful at many levels , all of which weave together with skill and subtlety , AFTER LIFE is one of my favorites of recent years . I highly recommend .
- David Alston
016 4 The recently deceased are transported to a way station en route to the afterlife , at which they are required to select a single memory in which they will exist for eternity . This is a terrific , thought-provoking concept that is very well executed . Director Hirokazu Kore-eda downplays the metaphysical angle by placing his characters in a very pragmatic , down-to-earth environment - - an old building , harried case workers on a tight schedule , and a noticeable and commendable lack of ethereal visual or sound effects . We are treated to many interesting interviews with clients who are trying to select a memory . Some of these interviews are genuine and unscripted , conducted with non-actors . The most touching moments come as we get to know the case workers better and learn about their inner lives and the reason that they have been selected to work in this place rather than moving on to the next .
017 4 The performances are nuanced and articulate , the emotion delicate . This film will encourage you to think about your life in a new context . A very intelligent and evocative piece .
018 4 This is a sensitive film by a Japanese director on the subject of life and death . Its pace is gentle and contemplative , it is charmingly , sometimes playfully acted and envelopes the audience in an aura of peace and respect . Hirokazu examines the greatest mystery with which we all have to deal some time or other in our lives - what is death , and consequently what is life and what is the value of life , or rather each of our own lives ? There is no overt influence of religion , philosophy or other grand ideas or theories , rather we are left to draw our own conclusions based on the experiences of real people which are presented to us .
Because of the occasional almost banal nature of stories related by certain of the protagonists I got the impression that the film had a tendency to meander , but this hardly detracted from depth of thought behind the ideas and the sincerity of the acting .
019 4 This film is not for everyone , however , I highly recommend it . This is a very interesting Japanese film , which was released in 1998 . In the film , when people die they spend a week with counselors who are also deceased . The counselors help the dead to pick one memory from their lives . This one memory will be with them for eternity . I know this sounds a little silly , but I found the film to be fascinating . I know that I am a little biased towards Japanese films , however , there was something about the film that drew me in and kept my attention .
The film is both humorous and compassionate . Once the deceased decide which memory they are to take with them into eternity , then ALL other memories will be forgotten . Which memory would you take ? The staff of counselors who are there to help the deceased have films which help the dead decide which memory to take . When the deceased are shown the films of the memory they are to keep , then they vanish . I liked the way the film was done .
Moreover , the different characters whose lives were portrayed gave a very life affirming portrayal of what each person deemed was their most important memory to take with them into eternity . It almost seemed like a documentary film : Very profound . But as I wrote in the begining : for certain audiences only . However , I recommend you rent the film to see if it appeals to your taste . I liked the film very much . When I viewed the film , I actually began to think of my life and all the memories that I remembered were wonderful . There were too many to choose only one . It would be difficult if not impossible for me to choose .
020 4 What a wonderful story . This simple movie poignantly wraps the meaning of life into one moment of our memory and underlines the saying , an unexamined life is one not worth living .
The premise of the story is that after we die some of us are transported into a wayward station , where we prepare ourselves for our next leg of our journey , the trip to eternity . But before we could depart we are asked to pick one memory from our past lives to take with us into infinity . Everything else would be forgotten . That choice , so achingly simple , debilitates many people ; some wind up stuck for a long period in this state because of their ambivalence , fear , or regret .
At this station between life and eternity , the guests are assisted by workers who help them comb through their pasts for clues on what is possibly meaningful , valuable , truly unforgettable .
Once a memory is chosen , the staff recreates the scene by using elementary props and sets , like the ones you find on a high school stage production-a charming flourish by the director . ( So who are the workers ? Are they angels , devils , or bureaucrats in spirit form ? The touching ending explains their origins . )
What is great about Kore-Eda's movies is his use of silence as a character : the silence in the snow , the quiet from within . ( See Eureka . ) You will find that although his movies are quietly beautiful and beguiling , they do not provide answers to life's questions ; they merely propose an idea ; then allow us to ponder its worthiness . I trust this movie will leave you pondering for a quite a long time .
021 4 it's rare that I want to watch a movie twice in one sitting . After I finished watching After-Life the first time , I immediately rewound it to watch it again . It captures so many poignant moments of life and the fragility as well as the strength that memories are made of . While there was a fair amount of talking in the film , I found that the main characters of Takashi and Shiori in particular expressed volumes through their silences and faces .
022 4 I know this sounds like its not saying much as its so short and to the point , but honestly , you MUST see this film . This is the only movie to ever , ever make me cry . It makes you think . Forget about it being japanese . Forget about the subtitles . Forget anything that makes you not sure about seeing it . You NEED to see this film . Trust me . I dont say this about ANY other film
023 4 This is a slow and delicate film that touches human life at its core . It makes you stop and ask : What am I living for ? WHat is important in my life ? What have I learnt ? in other words . . . . What would I like to take with me when I go .
The actors act with an immediacy that is direct , refreshing and sweet - there is little self-consciousness usually involved in acting . . . possibly also because the Japanese are much less obsessed with the self than us Westerners .
In any case , the director did a superb job in coaxing the actors to be real , and he did it with VERY little money . If yu want to see a movie that will touch your heart and make you stop , and actually become aware of your life and its path , see After Life .
024 4 One of the most commonly reported aspects of near-death experiences is the life review , the seeing and re-experiencing of major and trivial events of one's life , sometimes from the perspective of the other people involved . Most say that the single most important lesson they learned is that the actions we think are trivial and unimportant turn out to be the most important , especially ones that involve spontaneous acts of love .
In After Life , by Hirokazu Koreeda , a group of recently deceased people are asked to look back at their life and choose only one memory that they want to take with them to eternity . The process compels people to look at their life in its entirety and see what worked and what was missing . In what looks like a dreary barracks-like way station , civil servants meet with those just crossed over to help them choose the experience they want to hold on to . For some , the choice is easy , for others it is quite difficult . Those that will not or cannot choose are consigned to work in the substation with the newly deceased until they are ready to move on . The counselors work one-on-one with each individual , telling them that they have three days to make their choice . Once a memory is selected , a film crew recreates the memory - - sets are built and the little touches of sights and sounds are selected until the deceased are satisfied that they are witnessing a perfect recreation of their experience . It is that film that they take with them , not the original memory .
At first some choose things such as a trip to Disneyland , a sexual encounter , or a memorable bowl of rice , but later gravitate toward experiences that are more meaningful . The center of the film revolves around those who are unable to choose . Ichiro Watanabe ( Taketoshi Naito ) is a 70 - year old management consultant who has led an uneventful life and is challenged to find a memory he thinks is worth preserving for all time . To help him in this process , he is allowed to scan through piles of videotapes representing each year of his life . One young man wants to choose a dream instead of an actual event . Another wants to forget his past entirely , and an elderly woman is stuck in the mindset of a nine-year old girl .
After Life is the story of the caseworkers as well . Takashi Mochizuki ( Arata ) has been stuck in limbo because he cannot find any happiness in his twenty-two years until he realizes how his short life deeply affected someone else . His perfect realization also affects a co-worker Shiori ( Susumu Terajima ) who has fallen in love with him . After Life is a beautiful and touching film that allows us to reflect on the things that brought us joy in our own life , and to recognize that true happiness lies , not in outward symbols of success , but in giving ourselves to others .
025 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
What happens after one dies ? Does one's soul ascend to heaven , descend to hell , or is it reincarnated into yet another earthly form ? Does an individual simply cease to exist after he or she dies ? In Kore-eda's second feature length film Afterlife one goes to a way station where one selects his or her favorite memory to be filmed and then one takes that memory and that memory alone to one's final destination .
In order to help individuals decide which memory to keep counselors help individuals comb through their lives to find important memories . Many of the individuals , of course , select times from their childhoods as their best memories . One man selects a summer day in which he rode a tram and enjoyed the scenery and the cool breeze that blew through the window . A radiant older woman chooses a time in which she was dressed in a red , Western dress and danced for her older brother and dined on chicken rice afterwards . One bitter man chooses a time in his life when he had a small fort and was able to hide away from the world .
On its surface Afterlife might seem a bit hokey and one wonders why spirits have to create videos of their memories , they also eat and drink , to take to the next world . However , isn't it true that are life experiences are nothing but memories and besides the current moment we live everything else is a memory ? Kore-eda , whose other feature length films Maboroshi and Distance focus on death and memory and memory as well , delves into mankind's worry of being forgotten . One character in the film , an older man who considers every aspect of his life to be so-so , is reluctant to select a memory because he does not believe that he had a life affirming moment that will be remembered by others , but , as one of the counselors states very few people do .
Slow moving , darkly filmed , and melancholy Afterlife is a deep film that takes an interesting stance to life and death and makes one reflect on one's own life and those small moments that makes each of us who we are .
026 4 What happens after one dies ? Does one's soul ascend to heaven , descend to hell , or is it reincarnated into yet another earthly form ? Does an individual simply cease to exist after he or she dies ? In Kore-eda's second feature length film Afterlife one goes to a way station where one selects his or her favorite memory to be filmed and then one takes that memory and that memory alone to one's final destination .
In order to help individuals decide which memory to keep counselors help individuals comb through their lives to find important memories . Many of the individuals , of course , select times from their childhoods as their best memories . One man selects a summer day in which he rode a tram and enjoyed the scenery and the cool breeze that blew through the window . A radiant older woman chooses a time in which she was dressed in a red , Western dress and danced for her older brother and dined on chicken rice afterwards . One bitter man chooses a time in his life when he had a small fort and was able to hide away from the world .
On its surface Afterlife might seem a bit hokey and one wonders why spirits have to create videos of their memories , they also eat and drink , to take to the next world . However , isn't it true that are life experiences are nothing but memories and besides the current moment we live everything else is a memory ? Kore-eda , whose other feature length films Maboroshi and Distance focus on death and memory and memory as well , delves into mankind's worry of being forgotten . One character in the film , an older man who considers every aspect of his life to be so-so , is reluctant to select a memory because he does not believe that he had a life affirming moment that will be remembered by others , but , as one of the counselors states very few people do .
Slow moving , darkly filmed , and melancholy Afterlife is a deep film that takes an interesting stance to life and death and makes one reflect on one's own life and those small moments that makes each of us who we are .
027 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
After death , everyone will be appointed a caseworker to help them reflect on their favorite memory . After the choice is made , they go to heaven with only that memory to relive for eternity . This is the concept of After Life . This film is stunning from beginning to end . It follows a handful of the caseworkers and their assignments . It seems like a simple plot , and easy to wrap up , but goes much deeper . The deceased have to think of their most cherished memory , but what memory is that ? A young girl wants to choose her trip to Disneyland , and her caseworker cautions her and asks if that is her fondest memory . That scene in the film is heartbreaking , because the young girl hadn't experienced much in life , and must now make a decision that will be eternal . There is a man who seems rebelious , and will not choose a favorite memory . I don't think it is because of the resentment of his own death , but a fear of eternity . Riding home from school on the bus , with a breeze flowing through the open windows is another great memory from a middle aged man , and is my favorite scene in the film . This film also deals with the struggle of a couple of the caseworkers themselves . The toll they pay for helping many people , and the actual reinvolvement with one of the workers past life . Everyone should watch this film . You will probably reflect on your own past memories , and this film days after viewing . I have seen hundreds of films , and I am certain this is the best film I have ever seen .
028 4 After death , everyone will be appointed a caseworker to help them reflect on their favorite memory . After the choice is made , they go to heaven with only that memory to relive for eternity . This is the concept of After Life . This film is stunning from beginning to end . It follows a handful of the caseworkers and their assignments . It seems like a simple plot , and easy to wrap up , but goes much deeper . The deceased have to think of their most cherished memory , but what memory is that ? A young girl wants to choose her trip to Disneyland , and her caseworker cautions her and asks if that is her fondest memory . That scene in the film is heartbreaking , because the young girl hadn't experienced much in life , and must now make a decision that will be eternal . There is a man who seems rebelious , and will not choose a favorite memory . I don't think it is because of the resentment of his own death , but a fear of eternity . Riding home from school on the bus , with a breeze flowing through the open windows is another great memory from a middle aged man , and is my favorite scene in the film . This film also deals with the struggle of a couple of the caseworkers themselves . The toll they pay for helping many people , and the actual reinvolvement with one of the workers past life . Everyone should watch this film . You will probably reflect on your own past memories , and this film days after viewing . I have seen hundreds of films , and I am certain this is the best film I have ever seen .
029 4 After Life is quite simply the best film I have ever seen .
030 4 I came to this film after rave reviews from friends , so perhaps I was expecting too much . There is much to admire here ; the acting is top-notch , the contrast between chatty characters and completely silent people in the opening interview scenes is well-crafted , and the plot premise itself is a fascinating one . For me , films are all about endings , and I felt in this area After Life didn't quite pay off . I didn't really buy into the romance , and wanted to know more backstory about the female character so I could care more whether she gets the guy or not . I also thought they could have cut it a bit more - it feels 10 - 15 minutes too long to me . However , these are minor criticisms ; it is a film I will watch again , and recommend to Japanese film fans , especially those who like the more slow-paced Japanese films such as Eureka , Moe no Suzaku and Sonatine .
031 4 Saw this movie on the big screen in a little art theater in West Palm Beach , FL . We absolutely loved it and spent many hours into the night discussing the what if's ? that the movie invites its audience to consider . Perhaps a Blu-Ray version will be made one day , but until then , if you happen upon this movie at a rental store or on the shelf at a friend's home , please be sure to pick it up .
032 4 A uniquely poignant meditation on life and death , Koreeda's After Life began as a documentary project in which the director interviewed 500 people about their favorite memories . Intercutting these with characters of his own devising adds a touch of wry humor to his compassionate story of everyday people struggling to isolate a golden moment from their worldly existence . The choices are surprising as well as profound : watching staffers fabricate one man's experience flying a plane with cotton-ball clouds and giant wind fans is as much a testament to the art of cinema as it is a comment on personal whimsy and sensory pleasure . With a deceptively simple premise , Koreeda fashions a deeply affecting homage to the sweet here-and-now .
033 4 Opinions , if you'll pardon the expresseion , are like butt-holes : Everyone has one . And movies like this one are sure to bring out quite a varriation of them , especially since it is an American release of a Japanese film . Most Americans I talk to about this movie are bored by its slow pace , complete absence of background music , and lack of super-expressive acting . However , all my Japanese friends find great emotional value in this masterpiece by Hirokazu Koreeda . This , I believe , is mostly because of cultural differences . Culture is the context of one's exhistance , the filter through which one interprets reality . . . so with that in mind , what makes sence and is thoughroughly enjoyable to one group , could be completely incomprehensible to another .
My own personal opinion is that this is a wonderfully understated human drama about life , memories , and deeper meaning to one's existance . Filmed documentary-style , its almost as if you're watching a home-video of real people talking about real meaningful experiences from their lives . . . not actors on a screen .
Japanese films must be approached on their cultural terms . If , you are unwilling to do that , then you won't get as much out of watching one , and I suggest you stick to hollywood movies . If its nonstop action you're wanting . . . watch a different movie ! But , if you are willing to step out of yourself , away from your own culture for a couple hours , I think you'll find this film and others like it to be a very thought-provoking , inspiring , and uplifting experience .
034 4 Everybody needs to at least see this gentle , inspiring , important film at least once . It's a very lovingly made , humane and humanist piece ( yes I have to group adjectives in threes . Got a problem with that ? ) that you don't want to end , and leaves you valuing your own life and the people around you more . The atmosphere and formality of the film are really effective , while showing a uniquely ( I think ) Japanese sensibility , the actors are pitch-perfect , with the interviewees who are possibly real people being especially memorable . I just hope this really is what happens after we die !
035 4 The Japanese title of this film is Wonderful Life , and wonderful it is .
Kore-Eda uses the premise of choosing one memory for all eternity as a compelling way to explore themes of memory , closure , loss and existential meaning . The film starts out with interesting stories of unique memories recounted by actors and non-actors . A small plot develops as the story follows the case of an older , slightly arrogant retired salaryman who believes he lived a meaningful life but is having a hard time choosing his one memory . Keep in mind that people who hated this film probably prefer plot-driven dramas . After Life is driven by quiet observations , with a small plot driving the film's main statement .
The thing that impressed me the most was Kore-eda's representation of heaven or the after life . Kore-eda's heaven evokes and celebrates so many aspects of Japanese daily life - - the school life of children , the driving productivity of salarymen , and the quiet , contented simplicity of the elderly population . The staff of counselors at this halfway-house to eternity scrub the floors and tidy up their office first thing in the morning the way my Japanese mother remembers doing at her school in 1950s Tokyo . Like salarymen , they discuss their increasingly heavy case load and the film follows the tense timeline of their one-week deadline to recreate and film the memories . The film also captures the beauty of falling autumn leaves and sakura ( cherry blossoms ) through the eyes of an elderly woman with Alzheimers .
There is no idealism in Kore-eda's heaven . The staff's building looks like an old , run-down school house and the props they use to film their staged memories have a summer camp , high school production feel to it . Some of the dead change their minds about their memories , and one chooses not to pick at all . The staff is also faced with a corporate schedule and mom-and-pop resources , but things eventually fall into palce .
Oddly enough , in Kore-Eda's heaven , there is no closure . The counselors who run the place have chosen for various reasons to not pick one memory for all eternity , and they must continue on with the daily frustrations of being human . People still experience unrequited love and loneliness in heaven . Counselors pass time by reading the encyclopedia volume by volume . There seems to be little solace , except in the closure one makes for oneself by finally choosing a memory .
Kore-eda's film doesn't make any striking or profound statements about existential meaning , God or eternity . In fact , there are no evocations of God or a higher power . By singling out one memory ( true or fabricated ) , the film almost suggests that the experience of living is really just content for us to draw from in deciding what the meaning of our existence has been in the end . The film benignly suggests that meaning doesn't seem to exist in its own right , it's something illusory that people create . We aren't faulted for needing illusions , it just seems to be an accepted part of our humanity .
For such a quiet film to make such compelling and powerful observations , I give it 5 stars .
037 4 After life is an extremely strange film .
First of all it is not your typical Japanese odd ball.It is actually very straight forward . Story and the location is very
down to earth . Strange thing that the film is set in a parallel world or better a zone between earth and heaven hell . People live and work there just like in earth.Even announcements are made regularly . In this parralel zone , people who lost their lives recently , come and pick a memory before exiting to the otherside.Of course everybody is strangely Japanese but it is a Japanese film is not it ? This memory will be the only thing that they will remember about their past lives . There is a government office type place there whose employees ( dead people just like visitors who still unsure about which memory to pick ) try to help the visitors to pick a memory . When a memory is picked , these people help the visitors to re live the memory by re creating it with actors and other resources . These clerks has a band as well which performs at the farewell seremonies .
So a very straight looking movie which shatter all these past visions of afterlife in other movies . Yes it is not the afterlife itself and director wisely protects films authenticity by not showing it . But this parallel world is without any phantasy locations or people . So director takes us in to the meaning and the message of the film without being irrevelent .
Film's message is simply based on the memories and our failure to appreciate them . Visitors who want to decide which memory to pick is provided with video tapes of thie entire life . Some of them watch it and find how life was beautiful when they were unaware of it , how moments shared with precious ones were actually the best of times which were always unnoticed and forgotten quickly .
People in that world are actually face with their faults and choices about life and even the attendants of the parallel world find themselves asking the same questions thus some find the best memories and leave their posts which are filled with visitors who are unable to pick a memory .
Well acting is quite good and characters are well portrayed .
This film is slow paced and emotional hence being boring to many ( I still remember the cracking sound of chairs including mine ) Not your typical Japanese weirdo indeed.It requires your patience . But it is an extremely interesting as well as an uniqe film to watch.It will make one to re think about life , memories and loved ones and sure will point to the good memories which are dismissed as too ordinary . If you want to watch an unusual ( but not a weird ) movie , line starts here .
038 4 This movie makes you think about those magical moments in life ( sometimes too short in time but extraordinary powerfuls ) in which one is actually shaked , amused , amazed , impressed , joyed , by something or someone . The best part is that what is most important to you is very unique htat not even your wife or best friend can match because they have their own , , , , this made me think a lot about the loneliness of the human spirit .
039 4 it : s quite strange that most japanese haven : t heard of this movie . though i rarely can stand to watch a movie more than once , i : ve seen this a few times ; pretty amazing i think , though it : s best not to know anything about it before you see it .
it : s the people in it that make it so good , and important . there is so much compassion and real feeling here , without sentimentality - - none of the emotion is not earned . well i could go on but you get the point .
questions were raised in a previous review about technology formats and the creation of a believable ( ! ) halfway world . i suppose my answer to that would be to say that kore-eda had a formidable task in creating a world with fantastic rules that is flesh-and-blood concrete for the viewer . this is why , i think , he set it in a typical japanese school , with very typical maintenance people , school songs adn ceremonies , etc . hence videotape . yeah there : s a suspension of reality here but if you can make the jump the world is more real than the real world of most movies .
try it anyway .
040 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
The idea behind the movie seems too simple - once you die you go to a way station between Earth and Heaven . You will stay there for a week . The first three days you get to pick one memory you wish to live in - forever . That memory becomes your after life . The people at the station film it and show it to you at the end of the week .
The film's greatness is in the delivery . We follow not just the dead , who struggle with either a life rich in good memories or one bland and lacking in anything , but those who work in the way station . The station itself seems worn , but clean , with meeting rooms , a theater and even apartments . It reminds me slightly of the high schools you see in the Japanese movies . Maybe that's the point ?
Anyway , even the people who work there struggle with themselves as they help those newly departed find one moment , one memory they can live with . Or die with for an eternity . What single event is worth so much that you can't let it go ? That it outweighs the rest of one's life ?
It is very profound , sad and joyful at the same time . A perfect movie in all respects . I plan to try to find more of the director's works .
041 4 The idea behind the movie seems too simple - once you die you go to a way station between Earth and Heaven . You will stay there for a week . The first three days you get to pick one memory you wish to live in - forever . That memory becomes your after life . The people at the station film it and show it to you at the end of the week .
The film's greatness is in the delivery . We follow not just the dead , who struggle with either a life rich in good memories or one bland and lacking in anything , but those who work in the way station . The station itself seems worn , but clean , with meeting rooms , a theater and even apartments . It reminds me slightly of the high schools you see in the Japanese movies . Maybe that's the point ?
Anyway , even the people who work there struggle with themselves as they help those newly departed find one moment , one memory they can live with . Or die with for an eternity . What single event is worth so much that you can't let it go ? That it outweighs the rest of one's life ?
It is very profound , sad and joyful at the same time . A perfect movie in all respects . I plan to try to find more of the director's works .
042 4 After Life is a meditative film that ponders whether our lives can be summed up in a single moment . Specifically , when people die , they are sent to a weigh-station of sorts , where an assigned caseworker helps them pick one memory . That moment will stay with them forever while they forget everything else about their lives . Each week , a new batch of the recently deceased arrives , and the staff helps them pick the moment and then recreates and films it . After Life depicts one week in this ` office ' and the complications that arise as the new arrivals slowly learn about themselves .
From the basic description , After Life sounds like fantasy , but the movie doesn't necessarily fit into that category . Indeed , I was expecting the movie to be ethereal in look and tone , but it actually has a much more realistic feel to it . This choice really helps ground the film and makes it more immediate and affecting . We connect with the characters and feel ebullient when their moments start coming together . After Life is first rate cinema better seen than described . Some viewers may find it a bit slow-moving , but a little patience will result in a superior movie watching experience . Most highly recommended .
043 4 This is probably the best dramatic film I've ever seen . The acting is very good , and the story keeps you interested from the instant you here the premise until long after you're done watching it .
044 4 I'll just focus on the DVD quality , and it may sound picky . Compared with the standards of other DVDs , this one is very disappointing . The subtitles are a fixed part of the movie and cannot be switched off . The movie looks as if simply taken from a videotape without any further work . This can be seen in the subtitles . They dissolve in and out as on a TV screen ( first every other pixel-line of the subtitle is shown , then in the next frame the whole subtitle appears ) . While this is okay for a VCR tape , it's not on a DVD where you can actually notice this .
The most disturbing thing is that whenever there is a subtitle , the very left edge ( maybe 3% ) of the movie becomes covered by a black bar , which can be quite annoying ! This causes noticable flickering whenever subtitles go on and off . Very disappointing and lazy editing on the DVD publisher's part . You probably don't see this on a TV because that region may not be on the screen , but you can clearly see it when watching on a computer DVD .
Five stars for the movie , one and a half stars for the DVD quality . Overall , still a nice DVD to have , though it could be a lot better .
046 4 This slow-moving , meditative film from Japan invites being understood in so many different ways . This is partly because it lingers so long on each of its characters as they reflect on their lives after death that it's hard to resist mentally scanning the contents of one's own memory for a happiest moment to preserve for eternity , while at the expense of forgetting everything else .
Eventually , the film seems as much about forgetting as remembering , for some characters refuse for various reasons to choose at all - which leaves them on the staff of the way-house that the newly dead pass through . Here , listening to the memories of others , they may eventually come to understand the purpose of their own lives . For the film is as much concerned with them as it is about the men and women , of all ages , who are being processed here on their way to eternity .
The setting of the film , in an aging institutional structure , and the time - autumn - are evocative of a kind of limbo that is only partly realistic . Many of the characters as they ramble on about their lives try your patience , even while the minutiae of their memories can be absorbing . It doesn't help to reflect on the improbability of it all , but to surrender instead to the dream-like tranquility of this other-world , where no one openly grieves the loss of their lives and all human transactions take place in an atmosphere of civilized politeness .
This is not a film for everyone . The director ( a respected documentary filmmaker ) has said that his inspiration for the film was his own memories of a grandfather whose last years were a descent into what we know today as Alzheimer's . The story his film tells is about how we formulate and recall the stories of our own lives . Rather than offering escapism , it keeps turning the focus back on the viewer . Which is good if you like that sort of thing , not so good if you don't .
047 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
This film is absolutely beautiful in its cinematography , and its storyline is intriguing ( even for those of us who see no persuasive reason for believing in an afterlife ) and entertaining from the first minute to the last . Though quiet and gentle in its telling , it is also provocative and suspenseful .
048 4 This film is absolutely beautiful in its cinematography , and its storyline is intriguing ( even for those of us who see no persuasive reason for believing in an afterlife ) and entertaining from the first minute to the last . Though quiet and gentle in its telling , it is also provocative and suspenseful .
049 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
This is an excellent film with a premise that will keep you up all night wondering what choice you would make in the same situation .
Definitely intriguing and very well crafted .
050 4 This is an excellent film with a premise that will keep you up all night wondering what choice you would make in the same situation .
Definitely intriguing and very well crafted .
052 4 A quiet , contemplative movie concerning 22 people who are sent to a type of purgatory after death . The dead have one week to decide what one memory they will take with them into the after life . When they decide upon a memory , the memory is made into a film and the dead move on into the next life .
It is touching to see what people choose from their lifetimes . It usually comes down to something simple , like riding the trolley on the last day of school . A few people have trouble deciding because of things like alzheimers or unrequited love . Others won't decide and stay in purgatory . It makes a person wonder What do you own ? The answer is , of course , nothing really , just your memories .
I'm in love with this movie . If you watch it and like it too , I'd recommend
Wings of Desire ( Special Edition )
, and
This American Life - Season 1
. This American Life may seem like a strange recommendation , but Ira Glass seems adept at choosing people's memory for them and making it into a film . Ira and his reporters are the staff working purgatory ! Watch the episode about the man who sits in his wife's mausoleum watching TV and eating lunch every day and see if you don't agree !
053 4 After Life opens up to things that some of us may wonder about . The movie is truely magical . Where do we go when we die ? The fact of being able to take something precious w / you to the other side to cherish alway is a comforting feeling . This movie gives the whole idea of death a different meaning . The stories are very moving . Every story is unique and beautiful in its own way . It's a movie that should not be missed .
054 4 This has become one of my favorite films . Just when you think the film is about to end , it goes in a surprising direction and touches you even more deeply . You leave this film with a renewed appreciation for life and those you love . It is absolutely beautiful and very moving . I can't praise this enough . See it .
055 4 This review is from :
After Life ( DVD )
And put off watching it for weeks . Finally did , and was charmed .
It may be the kind of movie that makes more sense after 9 - 11 .
One of the neat things about it is that it has no problem whatsoever telling part of a story , making sure that we know that it may be part or all fiction .
If you get sucked into it , as I did , you'll find yourself making back stories for lots of the characters . And I think it's right that the films that the company makes for the newly dead are kind of tacky - - cotton wads hauled across the set on nylon lines - - that the institution where they go has peeling paint and a moon-making man . And that the staff are important too .
056 4 And put off watching it for weeks . Finally did , and was charmed .
It may be the kind of movie that makes more sense after 9 - 11 .
One of the neat things about it is that it has no problem whatsoever telling part of a story , making sure that we know that it may be part or all fiction .
If you get sucked into it , as I did , you'll find yourself making back stories for lots of the characters . And I think it's right that the films that the company makes for the newly dead are kind of tacky - - cotton wads hauled across the set on nylon lines - - that the institution where they go has peeling paint and a moon-making man . And that the staff are important too .
057 4 This movie is the type that squeezes your brain while you watch it . And then squeezes it some more afterwards . It reminded me of Dead Poets ' Society's theme of Carpe Diem , in that it left me thinking about what I had done in my life so far , and it left me resolving to experience life to the fullest . And the thought lingered even after the movie ended . The story has a sober tone , and the characters are so believable that I found myself empathising with them .
The story is a roller-coaster ride , though not in the mould of suspense , adventure , or horror thrillers . The basic premise of the movie is that you can bring one ( and only one ) memory with you to the afterlife after you die . I found myself getting immersed in the lives of the characters , as they sieved through their life experiences , looking for that gem in their life . I experienced their joy and sadness of recollection , their anguish at leaving some precious memories behind , their sense of satisfaction as a memory was re-constructed for them , etc . There was just such a myriad of feelings to experience as I sat through the movie , that moments of boredom were non-existent . I was constantly looking forward to what the next scene would bring .
You will likely see in the characters someone you know , be it your neighbours , your relatives , or even yourself . All this contributed to the sense of empathy I felt . I found myself thinking , What if this is what happens when I die ? . It was sobering .
Although the idea behind this movie is clever , and this movie is likely to get your brain juices flowing , I think the slow pace and limited action scenes would likely reduce the number of people who would actually sit through this . If you're not the type who occasionally sits back and thinks about what life actually is all about , this movie may not grab you like it grabbed me . Folks looking for a fast-paced Saturday night movie are better-served elsewhere .
058 4 It's filmed in such a realistic and thought-out fashion . It's especially touching how Kore-Eda deals with how we see ourselves through memories and how that can change from moment-to-moment . I loved this much more than Kore-Eda's first movie Maborosi .
059 4 Part of the beauty of this film is that it is Japanese . Part of the beauty of this film is that it is not religious . It is about life . It is about memories . It is about people .
If you can watch one movie that brings all of us together as one people , it is this . Regardless of your ethnic origins , we share the same emotions , the same feelings , the same thoughts , dreams , wishes , hurts and fears .
Having lived in Japan for the better part of 11 years , part of the fun of watching the movie was listening to the Japanese while reading the subtitles . Our reactions to other people are the same , regardless of what language we speak .
A video I would love to give to all my friends and relatives . And then discuss at the next family reunion ! ! !
061 4 This film is one of my top 5 . It is one of the films you can watch several times and still walk away with something new . The acting is beyond oscar caliber . For people who do not like to read subtitles , you deserve to miss this one .
After Life does what few films can and that is to leave a very strong lasting impression on you . I refuse to give anything away so after you watch it you wil know what I am talking about .
After Life was a unexpected treasure for me . I read the box and was skeptical of the reviews , however something about the premise made me want to watch it . I now own it on DVD .
This movie is a much needed break from American blow it up no talent movies or this is my 3 hour movie I hope you sit through , feel sorry that I never got an oscar , and decide to give me one please movies .
Bottom line : this movie is excellent .
063 4 This movie was very moving with ones emotion on the thought of choosing just one memory to take with you and relive over and over . It is very deep with the characters on what they want to choose and those that still have not decided .
065 4 Here exists one of the few films of this past year that truly lives up to its ambitiousness . Rather than branching out into weaker ( and equally pretentious ) limbs of personal philosophy , Hirokazu has chosen instead to produce an endearing and fantastically human snapshot of would-be , could-be existence .
Barring the need for such extravagances as special effects , the film opts rather to move into a profoundly simple form , as though computerized editing techniques would not do the story , much less its characters , justice .
Moreso , the style in which the script was derived is in itself quite a feat . As described by the Boston Phoenix , Hirokazu took it upon himself to poll 500 japanese citizens , most of whom elderly , asking them to provide the one most wonderous and profound memory that they could . Seamlessly blending this with the cosmic implications of the rest of the film , the experience begins to take on new dimensions . Ultimately one finds the need to kick oneself from time to time , pinch one's own cheek , and remember that the bulk of this is real , despite its purgatorial , and at times , super-existential , feel .
The premise runs as such : men and women after death make their way to a waystation of sorts between life and eternity , and are requested to provide one memory . This memory being all that they remember on into infinity , it is something of a monumentous decision , and as is to be expected , some have difficulty doing so . It is thus these few , who after one week's stay are still unable to choose , that go on to become the staff at said waystation , aiding and interviewing those who pass through .
Highly recommended to anyone fascinated by a perhaps not altogether contrived view of time spent after death . I , myself , an atheist , still found something magical in it , so perhaps those who commit to a particular belief will see something even more mystical in its depths .
066 4 This has got to be at the top of my list of all time favorite films . It is really a beautifully put together piece of filmaking that deserves much more recognition than it received here in NY . It makes a beautiful statement of how the human race perceives the importance of , life , love , death , themselves , and eachother . Very psychological and well thought out . If you like movies that make you think once in a while , you will definitely enjoy this movie .
067 4 After this film you might not want to see any other movies at all ! You might as well drop everything and just go travelling Tolstoi style looking for perfect memories . Absolutely brilliant !
I realize that some of the people in the cast are not professional actors , which adds a unique flavor of reality into the world of fantasy .
068 4 I would have to rank After Life up with Life is Beautiful , Wings of Desire , and Seventh Seal , as my favorite foreign films of all time . Anyone who won't watch foreign films just because of subtitles is missing the movie watching experience of a life time . The movie is well put thought out , wonderfully filmed , and with enough quirks to endear it to the viewer . Definitely a must see for fans of foreign . I am glad to hear that this is finally getting released
070 4 Kirokazu Kore-eda spent almost a decade working for a Japanese independent TV station-where he directed several dazzling documentaries that dealt with the fringe elements in Japanese society . He enjoyed tremendous success with his first feature film , MABOROSI ( 1995 ) . He directed AFTER LIFE in 1998 , and it was very well received by the critics .
Kore-eda has created a unique place-a way station where all souls must stop for one week-housed in a run-down abandoned complex . The souls are counseled and told that they are , in fact , dead-and that they are in transition . They are tasked to review their lives and come up with-to choose one favorite memory-but only one . It might have been an epiphany , a trauma , a pivotal moment-or merely a pleasant thing that floats to the surface . The staff would then recreate that memory on film-and the souls would gather in a theatre and view it on the seventh day . Once reviewed and connected with-then the soul would be allowed to more on-to somewhere-to something . As the souls move on they would be able to cherish that one memory-and all the other earthly memories of their past lives were supposed to be expunged .
In Kore-eda's vision of the other side there is no God , or the Devil , no angels or demons-not even the mention of any particular religion . In this middle world , this stopping place-apparently there are many way stations . I would hope so . They only process a couple dozen souls a week through them-and that would most certainly not keep up with the death rate . The largest bone of contention I had with this lovely film was its central premise-the pick only one memory motif . I would like to consider that once on the other side , every memory of our past life would matter-as we view our Life Review . Somehow this put my mind and my emotions in turmoil . So , I apologize , Kore-Eda San . I could not approach your vision and the sweetness of your film with an open mind or an open heart . One critic in LIBERTAS wrote , Kore-Eda's strength is clearly lyrical rather than philosophical .
Kore-dea appeared , with his crew , in this film-as the film crew within the staff of the way station . It helped make the transition from documentary to fiction more palatable . The director had interviewed 500 people , and then chose 13 to appear in the film . They appeared as themselves and improvised their own dialogue . He used one cinematographer for the interviews , and another to establish the mood and tone of the way station and its phantom staff . The blending of real and imagined dialogue is not always smooth-but the concept is very creative and interesting .
I had heard the buzz about this film for a long time , and I was really looking forward to viewing it . Perhaps I expected too much-wanted too much-had expected it to answer some of my specific after life and spiritual questions . But instead , for me it just posed conundrums , and bent perceptions-and offered what seemed to be a silly and unworkable postulation . I do applaud the sweet sadness and insight the film exhibits-and would recommend it .
071 4 A deeply profound film filled with achingly-beautiful moments that ostensibly deals with memory . No doubt the film is partly about the resilient but illusory nature of our memories , but it's also about our own reconciliation between material success and the true meanings of life . I was particularly struck by one man's realization that the reason why he cannot come up with a happy memory is because he was oblivious of the moment when he made his mark on the world we so briefly occupy . What he was oblivious to was somebody else's love for him , a love that , although not reciprocated , is a sign nevertheless , an indication that he was alive , that he lived a worthy life . The film is deliberately paced , but that's not a problem because it gives the audience time to contemplate about what our happiest memories would be , what lasting marks or legacies we have left behind . The real problem with the film , however , is that its profundities are enveloped in the clunkiest of plots , bulked up with a number of unnecessary elements ( the filming of individual memories , the unrequited love of one of the staff members ) . I know that to some , my complaints about the plot may seem petty compared to the sublime meaning of this film , but I found its poignancy too obscured by questions I had about the plot . For example , why videotape ? Doesn't Limbo ( or whatever this intermediate stage is ) have digital technology ? What about people who died before , say , the 1970 ' s ? Would they know what a videotape is or even know how to operate a VCR ? And I'm also certain that computer effects can do a much better job of recreating clouds than a mass of cotton balls on a wire . Kore-eda would have been better off if the dreams had been reconstructed in a nondescript black box because its depiction of Limbo as some shabby terrestrial movie studio is just too hard to swallow . It's difficult to transcend our misplaced worship of the material world when we are so conscious of the hard fact that we are watching a movie , a movie we paid 8 bucks to see . At any rate , a week after seeing the film , I'm still thinking about what my one lasting memory would be . Like the characters in the film , I initially came up with memories of important achievements filled with self-satisfaction and material rewards , but upon further contemplation , I too realize that they do not represent what my life is about . Yes , the film will give you much to think about , if you're in the mood .
072 4 I have seen plenty of japanese films which I thoroughly enjoyed . Unfortunatly , After Life was not one of those .
After you get over the unique plot , we have very few surprises , you will actually look forward to the end of the film . To me , this film had lots of potential but in the final analysis , they blew it .
073 4 When I rented this movie , the premise sounded very compelling . The more the movie played out , however , the more difficult it became to accept . Most of the movie was so slow moving that it gave me time to wonder :
Why they would go to the trouble of recreating a treasured moment when they seemed to have the real thing already on video ?
What would a persons eternity be like reliving a single moment over and over ?
Many memories become golden by years of reflection . Even more damaging , if a person's memory was wiped clean of everything except their chosen moment , the moment itself wouldn't be worth reliving once let alone an infinite number of times with no memory of what led up to that point . ( The movie comes close , perhaps , to defining a type of hell . )
Technically , the acting was mostly only marginally good and the direction seemed very uninspiring . The English subtitles , fortunately , were of very good contrast and easy to read .
The IDEA of the movie gave my wife and I something to discuss . It is for that reason I gave it two stars instead of one . But we could have had just as good a discussion by merely having read the description on the DVD box without having to waste over 90 minutes viewing this very slow movie that , I feel , could have been MUCH better .
074 4 Afterlife would have been more interesting as a 1 hour drama , than what it is . It is boring and tedious to watch and the characters are uninteresting .
The movie is filmed almost as a documentary , and the people portrayed are given rich histories , especially since they have to describe them to employees of the After Life who work in an abandoned office building . These recently decreased are given 3 days to remember their best memory which they will take as they either go to Heaven or Hell . The employees will recreate the memory for them .
We are introduced to up to 22 characters , and 4 or so employees . They are all serene and have different issues and they talk a lot . I'm surprise that the employees didn't fall over asleep listening to the memories of these boring people . It definitely doesn't help that all these people talk in monotone .
The problem with this movie is that beyond it's interesting premise , we have nothing of interest here . The movie is broken up by days and basically we have people talking . The problem is that if this were a real documentary , this could have been interesting , but I was always aware that they are actors and they are basically reading off their lines . Their stories have no substance because we only get to hear them , not experience them .
This is an incomplete review because I could not watch the rest of the DVD ( I fast forwarded it ) . The performances were too contrived , the director obviously didn't have the budget to show the lives of these people and the whole picture is like being forced to read a classic piece of literature which everyone says is really great , but no one actually reads . The worst part of the movie was the ending , where these poor souls were forced to relive more memories from more boring dead people .
075 4 I don't know whether I just didn't get it or something but this film was downright boring to me . I had a hard time focusing my attention . I usually love artsy-type films as well as action etc . I mean , I loved Swallowtail Butterfly , Kikujiro , Hanabi ( Fireworks ) and Boys Return and I even understood the meaning in Battle Royale but this one just didn't cut it . I had no idea what all the praise was about . There are just too many slow parts .
076 4 I didn't even finish watching this movie . So the rating of one is based on the 40 minutes I saw . Maybe if I had finished watching the movie I would have rated it more but I never felt the urge to continue . This movie was recommend to me by someone who said it was very good .
077 4 . . . P > There were 3 main things that were so bad about this film . 1 : The way it was filmed , 2 : The premise behind it , 3 : The execution of this premise .
The movie was filmed so that the picture is very grainy . While this does in a way go with the idea that everyone there is dead , it came off more as just a . . . shallow camera trick . Secondly , the subtitles of the film are yellow . There are a lot of light colors in the film so half the time they were barely readable . If you can't understand Japanese then be careful .
The premise is a bad one indeed . Dead people go to this place where they pick 1 memory from their life to bring with them to heaven ( or the Japanese equivalent thereof ) . Then the staff of this place recreate their memory and film it . HUH ? They film it ? If they have the power to bring people here after they die then why are they using old cameras and techniques to capture their memories on film , which they can't take to heaven ? And what about the people that died before film was invented ? Plus , if you don't think of a memory , you stay there forever and join the staff . I wonder why more people just didn't do that .
Finally , the execution of the movie stutters and stumbles along . Half of the film is just people talking about their memories ( I remember when I was in the field making rice balls . etc ) and the other half is about the drama that takes place between the staff members . The movie can't figure out whether it's going to focus on the dead people or the staff and so the general focus of the action is terrible . Then there's a dramatic scene where one of the staff members meets someone he once knew and then finally decides on a memory so he can go to heaven . Wow , could that be any more cliched ?
Perhaps there is some value in the movie's supposed message ( which according to the other reviews here is to value the small things in life ) . But the way that the movie was filmed , planned and executed drowns out this message . . .
051 4 I JUST WANT THE READER OF MY REVIEW TO KNOW THAT THIS IS ONE OF VERY FEW FILMS MADE THAT COULD BECOME LIFE-CHANGING FOR THOSE WHO SEE IT - IT IS THAT PROFOUND . BUT , I'M AFRAID THAT IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE , THIS MOVIE MOVES SLOWLY , HAS SUBTITTLES AND IT IS HARD TO GET THROUGH THE NON-STORY PLOT PLAYING BEFORE YOU . BUT IF YOU GIVE IT TIME AND STICK IT OUT , YOU WILL FIND A UNIQUE FILM CAPABLE OF CHANGING YOUR LIFE ! THERE IS A CARACTER IN THIS MOVIE , AN OLD MAN , WHO CAN'T THINK OF ANY MEMORY FROM HIS LIFE THAT IS WORTH KEEPING WITH HIM FOR ETERNITY . WHAT A WASTED LIFE ! TOO MUCH WORK , NO HOBBIES , NO REAL LOVE , NO EMOTIONS . HE WAS LIKE THE LIVING-DEAD . IT MAKES US THINK OF OUR SOMETIMES UNEVENFUL , PITIFUL AND MISERABLE LIVES - - - BETTER CHANGE OUR WAYS !
BE WARNED THAT THIS FILM WILL MAKE MOST OF YOU CRY . IT WILL ALSO MAKE YOU REVIEW AND EXPLORE YOUR OWN LIFE LIKE NO OTHER FILM YOU。 VE SEEN BEFORE .
003 4 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 .
045 4 From JAPAN and director KORE-EDA HIROKAZU comes this fascinating look at what happens after we die ! In this film those who have passed over find themselves in a SPIRITUAL PROCESSING OFFICE , where the goal is for each person to find the SINGLE MEMORY they will take with them into the After Life ! That alone should make you curious , not only to see the film , but to even BEGIN to decide what memory YOU would pick ! HIROKAZU incorporates what REAL INTERVIEW SUBJECTS had to say into his fictional account of what the next world teaches us about this one ! This film offers a SIMPLE IDEA and turns it into a MOVING and even PROFOUND experience for the viewers ! EXTRAS for this DVD includes both the Japanese and American TRAILERS as well as the DIRECTORS's NOTES and other goodies ! SEE this film and then TELL your FRIENDS and FAMILY to check it out too !
064 4 In the midst of chaos , violence , shallowness as exemplified by so many movies , most especially those from Hollywood , AFTER LIFE is a welcome breath of fresh air , of beauty . It has the quality that so many Japanese films have . In my opinion , it doesn't rank at the top with RASHOMON , THE SEVENTH SEAL , WINGS OF DESIRE , but it does give a person a good feeling .
The large number of characters did seem a bit overwhelming . I would've liked to have gotten to know some of them a bit better . Also , the limitations in filming the memories didn't ring true . After all , this is the after life and you would think that they would have access to phenomenal effects . Kinda downgrades my idea of what the hereafter would have at its disposal .
But the bottom line is that this is a brilliant film , and a must for foreign movie fans . . . and one for those who aren't to take a look at .
060 4 A journey of mystery , humor , and thought provoking ideas that is filled with memorable images . A great dinner movie ; it inspires conversation and thought .
062 4 watched the movie a few years back , and was really touched . definitely one of my favourites .
069 4 Wonderful , Wonderful Wonderful . ONe of my favorites .
