After Life (film)

After Life
Japanese film poster
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Produced by Masayuki Akieda
Shiho Sato
Written by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring Arata
Erika Oda
Susumu Terajima
Sayaka Yoshino
Takashi Naito
Kei Tani
Music by Yasuhiro Kasamatsu
Cinematography Yutaka Yamazaki
Edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Production
company
Engine Film
TV Man Union
Distributed by Engine Film
TV Man Union[1]
Release date
 September 11, 1998 (Toronto Film Festival)[2]
April 17, 1999 (Japan)
Running time
 118 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Box office $801,985[3]

After Life, known in Japan as Wonderful Life (ワンダフルライフ, Wandafuru Raifu), is a 1998 film edited, written, and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Arata, Oda Erika and Terajima Susumu.

Plot

A small mid-20th century social-service-style office is a waystation for the souls of the recently deceased, where they are processed before entering their personal heaven – a single happy memory re-experienced for eternity. Every Monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain their situation. Once the newly-dead have identified their happiest memories, workers design and replicate each person's chosen memory, which is staged and filmed.

At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them.

The story pays most attention to two of the "counselors," Takashi (Arata) and Shiori (Oda). Takashi has been assigned to help an old man, Ichiro (played by Naito Taketoshi), select his memory. Reviewing videotape of Ichiro's life, Takashi learns that Ichiro had married Takashi's former fiancée after Takashi had been killed during World War II. Takashi has Ichiro assigned to another counselor, but is still troubled by his memories, causing both him and his quasi-romantic interest Shiori to re-examine their (after-) lives.

Cast

Trivia

Much of After Life depicts interviews with the recently deceased about their lives. Some of these interviews were scripted, but many were done impromptu with real people (not actors) reminiscing about their own lives.

Critical response

  • Nippon Cinema
  • Ebert, Roger (6 August 1999). "After Life". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  • Elley, Derek (21 September 1998). "After Life (Drama -- Japanese)". Variety. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

References

  1. ↑ Churi, Maya (12 May 1999). "INTERVIEW: Hirokazu Kore-Eda Remembers "Afterlife"". IndieWire. Park City, Utah: Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 November 2017. iW: Who is distributing “Afterlife” in Japan? Kore-Eda: We are doing it ourselves.
  2. ↑ Wandâfuru raifu (1998) - Release dates
  3. ↑ "After Life (1999)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  • After Life on IMDb
  • After Life at AllMovie
  • After Life at Box Office Mojo
  • After Life at Metacritic
  • Wandâfuru raifu at Rotten Tomatoes
  • "ワンダフルライフ (Wandafuru Raifu)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  • Film-series' speech by James Bowman
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