After Life
(1998)
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After Life
(1998)
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| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Arata Iura | ... |
Takashi Mochizuki, counsellor
(as Arata)
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Erika Oda | ... |
Shiori Satonaka, trainee counsellor
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Susumu Terajima | ... |
Satoru Kawashima, counsellor
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Takashi Naitô | ... |
Takuro Sugie, counsellor
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Kyôko Kagawa | ... |
Kyoko Watanabe, Ichiro's Wife
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Kei Tani | ... |
Kennosuke Nakamura, boss
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Taketoshi Naitô | ... |
Ichiro Watanabe, who cannot choose his favourite experience
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Tôru Yuri | ... |
Gisuke Shoda, who talks about sex
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Yûsuke Iseya | ... |
Yusuke Iseya, who refuses to choose his experience
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Sayaka Yoshino | ... |
Kana Yoshino, talks about Disneyland
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Kazuko Shirakawa | ... |
Nobuko Amano, who talks about her affair with a married man
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Kôtarô Shiga | ... |
Kenji Yamamoto, who wants to forget his past
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Hisako Hara | ... |
Kiyo Nishimura, old lady who loves cherry blossoms
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Sadao Abe | ... |
Ichiro (as young man)
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Natsuo Ishidô | ... |
Kyoko Watanabe as a young woman
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After people die, they spend a week with counselors, also dead, who help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week's end; eternity follows. 22 dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee. One old man cannot find a memory, so he watches videotape of his life. Others pick their memory quickly, and the film crew gets right to work. The trainee, 18-year-old Shiori, helps a teenage girl choose a memory other than Disneyland. The youthful staff have a secret and feelings, too, which play out, especially Shiori's affection for her mentor, Mochizuki Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
One of the few masterpieces of the year, and a rare sighting of a new talent who will surely become one of the greats. Fantasy is once again shown to be the most flexible of all forms - it can sustain profound metaphysical questions as well as examinations into Japanese history, culture and society. But, most importantly, it is the true form to examine people - their hopes and desires, fears and failures. Despite the buff hue and downbeat tone, AFTER LIFE is a comedy, it celebrates life even as it ends, even as it disappoints. It also makes the strongest case for - and against