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After Life Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 118 minutes Studio: New Yorker Films Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-08-29 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 "Fascinating and moving" 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. "Turning into a single precious memory...Heaven?" "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 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? "They should let us give it more stars" 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. "One single memory" "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. "This is typical of why Japanese films are so terrible" ...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...