|
| After Life |
|
  (7/10)
|
Runtime: 118 |
| Public Rating: 6.44 (9 votes) |
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Drama |
Year: 1998 |
| Writer(s): Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| Distributor: 1 |
| Reviewed by: Vadim Rizov |
| |
After a dozen documentaries, Hirokazu Kore-eda broke through to US distribution with his feature debut, Maborosi. He started out his next feature, After Life, like a documentary: he interviewed 500 people with the same question: if you could only have one memory for all eternity, what would it be? Eventually, 13 of them were chosen to tell their stories for the film. They were woven into a much larger, beautifully constructed plot. The result was a film that, though bogged down by a slow, practically non-existant second act, is mysteriously moving, a film that's as much intuitive emotion as a cerebral film about a philosophical question.
Kore-eda's vision of the afterlife is no frills and strangely comforting. Rather than envision the elaborately overdone worlds that were What Dreams May Come's sole reason for existance, this after life is firmly grounded in the dreary reality of modern life - wintry weather surrounds a depressing building that looks like an old-fashioned American high school, a brown and depressing building where the electricity occasionally shorts out. This is where, every Monday morning, the newly dead arrive. They're informed that they must choose one memory from their entire lives to take with them to eternity. The event will then be re-created and filmed, and the souls will disappear to spend eternity with that memory. The building is staffed by a diverse group also dead souls, who are the beaurocrats of the after life.
At 118 minutes, After Life (translated literally, the title would actually be Wonderful Life, as in It's A) is divided into two lop-sided halves. In the first, we see the dead people being interviewed, learn about their various lives, and see them finally choose their one memory. In the second, their memories are filmed and one of the building's workers goes through a life-changing experience (pun intended). In between lies a messy middle, where some scenes are redundant and far too long. However, this section is less than 20 minutes, and the rewards of the film are considerable.
The beating heart of this film is a fascinating question, which I don't need to expound upon; that's up to you and your buddies. As filmmaking, however, with the exception of that muddled middle, After Life is deeply compelling and craftily made. The story is carefully plotted (Kore-eda often shows us the result of something, and then the cause), and is beautifully cohesive (Kore-eda wrote, directed, and edited). The cuts often seem intuitive, lingering a bit longer than strictly necessary because it feels right. It's a work of emotion more than anything else, and rewards considerably. Rumor has it that Fox is prepping a remake that, presumably, would remove this film's patience and remarkable editing and replace it with warm and fuzzy feelings (provided courtesy of the nowadays soft-hearted Amy Heckerling). God save us all.
|
 Printable Version
|
Do you agree/disagree with this review of After Life? Let your opinions be heard in our forum.
|
Buy the Poster of After Life (Click Here)
|
|
|
|
