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Review of:
After-life (directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
In all honesty, my taste doesn't generally run to watching (and therefore having occasion to recommend) Japanese films. However, I not only recommend "After-life" but I own my own copy! It poses the question: If you could only take one memory of this life into the after-life, what would it be? Would it be an experience, a sensation, a touch, a sight, a smell, a sound, a perfect day, a perfect moment? The characters in the film have died and arrived in a waystation where they will stay until they have chosen the memory they wish to take with them. Some are indecisive, some refuse to choose. Some want to reinvent their past, while others think that there is nothing memorable about their lives. They have to deal with who they were, who and what mattered most about their lives. Not only is this a challenging idea (and a terrific one for discussion among friends), but Koreeda also films it in such a beautiful way. He himself visited temples, parks, and homes for the elderly posing his question to many people. After 6 months and 500 interviews, he was "so compelled by the authenticity of those stories, and their facial expressions as they told them, that [he] realized [he] could never beat them" and used the actual filmed interviews in his film.
Lawrie Merz , reviewer

In all honesty, my taste doesn't generally run to watching (and therefore having occasion to recommend) Japanese films. However, I not only recommend "After-life" but I own my own copy! It poses the question: If you could only take one memory of this life into the after-life, what would it be? Would it be an experience, a sensation, a touch, a sight, a smell, a sound, a perfect day, a perfect moment? The characters in the film have died and arrived in a waystation where they will stay until they have chosen the memory they wish to take with them. Some are indecisive, some refuse to choose. Some want to reinvent their past, while others think that there is nothing memorable about their lives. They have to deal with who they were, who and what mattered most about their lives. Not only is this a challenging idea (and a terrific one for discussion among friends), but Koreeda also films it in such a beautiful way. He himself visited temples, parks, and homes for the elderly posing his question to many people. After 6 months and 500 interviews, he was "so compelled by the authenticity of those stories, and their facial expressions as they told them, that [he] realized [he] could never beat them" and used the actual filmed interviews in his film.