| AFTER LIFE Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda "I've made it a rule never to show what someone is remembering because you begin to participate in the atrophying of the viewers imagination." (Kore-eda interviewed in Film Comment July/August 99) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-da, After Life is about a week in the life of recently departed souls who are transported to a way station -- that looks like an old school house in the country -- where they are asked to think of one special memory that they would want to carry with them into the afterlife. They are given three days to choose, and then that memory is reconstructed and filmed over the remainder of the week by a film crew who works in this way station limbo. The memory essentially becomes their heaven, and at the end of the week they are shown the finished film and are (somehow) transported to the next level with that memory only. The premise is remarkably original, but the interesting thing about the film is that the limbo area everyone enters is super low-tech and devoid of anything fantastical like the garishly colorful one seen in What Dreams May Come or the sparkling black and white one in Stairway to Heaven. The director's intention is to present a more cerebral or intellectual aspect of the concept, and by doing this he makes the film stronger through imagination rather than overwhelming it with special effects. Director Kore-eda -- who also wrote and edited the film -- interviewed over 500 people to come up with the cast and then used them and their choices to make up the narrative. This approach, as well as the use of natural light and handheld camera techniques, gives the film the feeling of a documentary at times. This is the kind of film that stays with you for days after it’s over, mainly because it deals with the fascinating nature of memory. Watching it becomes an interactive process too because invariably many viewers will wonder what memories they would want to carry with them if given the chance. There are also many subplots running throughout that by the end become the main focus of the film. The people who work in the way station are there because they have not chosen any memories that they feel the need to live with forever. They are rather lonely souls sacrificing themselves to help others achieve heaven. One of them, Takashi (Arata), meets a recently departed elder who happens to be married to a woman he was once engaged to before he died. The combination of Takashi’s memory of this woman and the memories of this old man helps jog his memory enough that he considers going on and leaving the way station after 50 years of service. The film is also about filmmaking and the way film can be used as a tool for memory. Of course this brings up a potentially anachronistic flaw because it begs the question: What happened to all the people who died before the advent of filmmaking? That’s a fair question, and there is no doubt that if you really think about it the film has a few such flaws. Another problem is the validity of such a premise, after all one memory forever would probably turn into hell pretty quickly. These are minor flaws, however, because they are servicing a greater theme and ultimately opened up a pretty extraordinary concept. The pace and mood of the film are contemplative; characters seem to be thinking a lot. Perhaps best of all is that the film has no morals to teach and steers clear of religion or, more accurately, consider a new one.. Kore-eda leaves almost everything open to interpretation. - Matt Langdon |