Rating: 
Summary: One single memory
Review: "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.
Rating: 
Summary: They should let us give it more stars
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and moving
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: This is typical of why Japanese films are so terrible
Review: ...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...
Rating:
Summary: Memories of a past life
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Not to be missed
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Just not interesting
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: It's not RASHOMON, but it is brilliant
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: haunting
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A TRULY GREAT FILM
Review: It's hard to find a film these days that isn't designed to cauterize your perceptional nerve endings and make you think rather than put you in a stupor, but this film invokes a deep sense of humanity in both it's characters and it's audience. Obstensibly a film about how our existance is continued after we die, it underlines the importance of the mundane in our lives. While undramatic and unpretensious, this film has more emotional weight than any other film made in years, with the inevitable exception of the directors first film, Maborosi. It's a truly wonderful film that celebrates life by dwelling on death.
| 
