"To know that you belong in someone else's precious memory...
that is the most wonderful feeling."
that is the most wonderful feeling."
Release Year: 1998
Country: Japan
Genre: Social drama/fantasy drama
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Screenwriter: Hirokazu Koreeda
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Music: Yasuhiro Kasamatsu
Editing: Hirokazu Koreeda
Actors: Arata, Erika Oda, Susumu Terajima, Takashi Naito, Kei Tani
Memories.
Country: Japan
Genre: Social drama/fantasy drama
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Screenwriter: Hirokazu Koreeda
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Music: Yasuhiro Kasamatsu
Editing: Hirokazu Koreeda
Actors: Arata, Erika Oda, Susumu Terajima, Takashi Naito, Kei Tani
Memories.
Those are what connected us to our past, projecting and highlighting the best and worst moments in our temporary life. There are happy memories we cherish about, painful memories that we wanted to forget but unable to, and random trivial memories that never seem important until they suddenly creep on us and bring unexpected emotion. They are all wonderfully subjective things, never be limited by mere facts, and enhanced by our perception and desire to interpret, re-interpret and re-construct them the way we wanted to.
Thus, After Life's conceptual question makes for a brilliant hook: if you have to select one memory from your entire life, what is it going to be? Which memory defines your life and that you prefer to remember above everything else?
After Life takes place in some sort of dormitory located 'in-between', a congregation site for dead people before they go on to 'Heaven'. There, a sort of administrative process is conducted: the recently deceased are informed by a team of 'counselors' that they have a week to pick one memory that they want to take with them to Heaven. Once they have made their choice, the officers will then reconstruct that memory, film-style, on the final day of their week-long stay.
Naturally, there are many questions that entail such a very interesting premise. What is exactly meant by the concept of Heaven in this film? What is the purpose of the whole procedure, and why the dead can only choose just a single memory? Where did those 'memory counselors' came from, and why are they chosen for the job? Why the concept of sin, punishment, and Hell are completely absent from the film? Some of those questions are answered, some are not; but then, Koreeda's primary intention is not to construct a multi-dimensional spiritual-fantasy world. The 'in-between administration office' is merely a tool, a medium used to raise questions and provoke thoughts about the process of recalling and cherishing memories at the end of one's existence.
(Mild spoiler)
We are shown the different ways the dead people (all of them seem at peace with the fact that they are dead) react to the news that they have to submit their most precious memory; some can do it right away, some change their minds after making an initial choice, and some other cannot make a choice at all. The story then focus on the counselors', particularly Takashi Mochizuki (Arata) and his quasi-love interest Shiori Satonaka (Oda), revealing that they used to be those people who cannot choose a memory to keep. They stayed in the place and help reconstructing other people's memories instead, and there is something really bittersweet within that whole notion.
Even with its nearly two-hour running time, After Life fleets by within its quiet and dream-like atmosphere, suggesting that there is still a lot left unsaid. The narrative approach is slightly scattershot, highlighting moments instead of the people in them, and there are times when I wish they would flesh out the characters more and give us more time to get to know them better. Yet, there is no denying that the movie is at its best during the montage-like scenes; the two best sequences are the one showing people recounting their chosen memory (some of them are actors working from a script, but others are actually non-actors talking about their real experiences), and another one when the counselors work together to assemble a film based on the deceased's memories--the metaphor on the latter is obvious.
Sometimes, you can see that a movie is clearly a personal and heartfelt project from the director, and it is indeed with the case with Koreeda, who was inspired to make After Life by his late grandfather's Alzheimer-induced memory loss. The concept, strongly rooted in a utopian vision, might be too ludicrous for some, but it works greatly as a gentle reflection on the inextricable link between memory, life, and death. Something that can make you think and feel at such a level is very special, indeed.
Thus, After Life's conceptual question makes for a brilliant hook: if you have to select one memory from your entire life, what is it going to be? Which memory defines your life and that you prefer to remember above everything else?
After Life takes place in some sort of dormitory located 'in-between', a congregation site for dead people before they go on to 'Heaven'. There, a sort of administrative process is conducted: the recently deceased are informed by a team of 'counselors' that they have a week to pick one memory that they want to take with them to Heaven. Once they have made their choice, the officers will then reconstruct that memory, film-style, on the final day of their week-long stay.Naturally, there are many questions that entail such a very interesting premise. What is exactly meant by the concept of Heaven in this film? What is the purpose of the whole procedure, and why the dead can only choose just a single memory? Where did those 'memory counselors' came from, and why are they chosen for the job? Why the concept of sin, punishment, and Hell are completely absent from the film? Some of those questions are answered, some are not; but then, Koreeda's primary intention is not to construct a multi-dimensional spiritual-fantasy world. The 'in-between administration office' is merely a tool, a medium used to raise questions and provoke thoughts about the process of recalling and cherishing memories at the end of one's existence.
(Mild spoiler)
We are shown the different ways the dead people (all of them seem at peace with the fact that they are dead) react to the news that they have to submit their most precious memory; some can do it right away, some change their minds after making an initial choice, and some other cannot make a choice at all. The story then focus on the counselors', particularly Takashi Mochizuki (Arata) and his quasi-love interest Shiori Satonaka (Oda), revealing that they used to be those people who cannot choose a memory to keep. They stayed in the place and help reconstructing other people's memories instead, and there is something really bittersweet within that whole notion.
Even with its nearly two-hour running time, After Life fleets by within its quiet and dream-like atmosphere, suggesting that there is still a lot left unsaid. The narrative approach is slightly scattershot, highlighting moments instead of the people in them, and there are times when I wish they would flesh out the characters more and give us more time to get to know them better. Yet, there is no denying that the movie is at its best during the montage-like scenes; the two best sequences are the one showing people recounting their chosen memory (some of them are actors working from a script, but others are actually non-actors talking about their real experiences), and another one when the counselors work together to assemble a film based on the deceased's memories--the metaphor on the latter is obvious.
Sometimes, you can see that a movie is clearly a personal and heartfelt project from the director, and it is indeed with the case with Koreeda, who was inspired to make After Life by his late grandfather's Alzheimer-induced memory loss. The concept, strongly rooted in a utopian vision, might be too ludicrous for some, but it works greatly as a gentle reflection on the inextricable link between memory, life, and death. Something that can make you think and feel at such a level is very special, indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment