Rating: 
Summary: Profound film clouded by clunky plot
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: must see/ must share
Review: 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!!!
Rating:
Summary: the best
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: Inheriting the Mantle of Ingmar Bergman
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: bravissimo!
Review: 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 :-)
Rating:
Summary: Subtitles for "AfterLife"
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: DVD quality is disappointing
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Eternity on a tape
Review: 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).
Rating:
Summary: "After Life"
Review: "After Life" is quite simply the best film I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: an experience to behold
Review: 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.
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