Rating: 
Summary: The Most Compelling Question -- "What If...?"
Review: *
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 Koreeeda-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.) *********************
Rating:
Summary: Turning into a single precious memory...Heaven?
Review: "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?
Rating:
Summary: Reflections of a Quiet Tenderness
Review: Early memories of director Hirokazu Kore-Eda's childhood include witnessing his grandfather's experiences bearing the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. At the time, he formed the impression that losing one's memories was a normal part of the journey towards the fact of bodily death. Kore-Eda, with this film, has transformed such painful memories, through the artistic process, into a timeless story which helps to honor the simple epiphanies of our daily life. Watching "After Life" partly serves as a guided meditation, which allows one to reflect on cherished events within one's own archive of life memories. Primarily, because it helps to provide the proper context for such reflections, which might otherwise be delayed or neglected in some way. "On Earth, as it is in Heaven" is a sentiment that requires some degree of intimacy to express amidst the various responsibilities and concerns of life on this planet. So take some time to watch this film. Hopefully, it will speak to your heart in ways that are not often addressed within our contemporary society. Fans of the film "After Life" may also want to look into reading "The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times", which was compiled by editors Carol and Philip Zaleski for Oxford University Press. "The Book of Heaven" covers similar subject matter in a way that straggles the line between the reverent and a sensibility of impish, mischievous humor.
Rating:
Summary: AFTER LIFE!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most thought provoking films I've ever seen
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Watching this movie would not be my "most favorite moment"
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: What Would You Choose?
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: You don't know about life--how can you ask about death?
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: ...ponder your own existence while breathing.
Review: After Life is a thought provoking film that depicts 22 individuals who have been sent to a place between the living and the hereafter. This place functions as a reflective and meditative station where three counselors are to guide the 22 characters through questions to remember their most enjoyable moment while alive. However, there is one stipulation to this task for each individual, which limits their contemplation of their memories to three days. The following step for the three counselors is to recreate the memory of each individual through shooting a film that resembles their fond memory. After Life is shot with a grainy texture and the cinematography reminds the audience of the spontaneous camera movement of documentary styled films. This is a part of Koreeda's deliberate direction as he wants to depict his brilliant vision and persuade the audience to ponder their own existence while breathing.
Rating:
Summary: Turning into a single precious memory...Heaven?
Review: "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?
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