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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 |
 "Probably one of the best movies I've ever seen"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. "AFTER LIFE!"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! "Careful!"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.  "After life -- overrated!"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. "Beautiful memories for eternity"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. |
