After Life (1998)

After death, people have just one week to choose only a memory to keep for eternity.

Director:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Stars:

Arata Iura, Erika Oda, Susumu Terajima

7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arata Iura	...	Takashi Mochizuki, counselor (as Arata)
Erika Oda	...	Shiori Satonaka, trainee counselor
Susumu Terajima	...	Satoru Kawashima, counselor
Takashi Naitô	...	Takuro Sugie, counselor
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Kyoko Watanabe, Ichiro's Wife
Kei Tani	...	Kennosuke Nakamura, boss
Taketoshi Naitô	...	Ichiro Watanabe, who cannot choose his favourite experience
Tôru Yuri	...	Gisuke Shoda, who talks about sex
Yûsuke Iseya	...	Yusuke Iseya, who refuses to choose his experience
Sayaka Yoshino	...	Kana Yoshino, talks about Disneyland
Kazuko Shirakawa	...	Nobuko Amano, who talks about her affair with a married man
Kôtarô Shiga	...	Kenji Yamamoto, who wants to forget his past
Hisako Hara	...	Kiyo Nishimura, old lady who loves cherry blossoms
Sadao Abe	...	Ichiro (as young man)
Natsuo Ishidô	...	Kyoko Watanabe as a young woman

Storyline

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

eternity | memory | movie set | filmmaking | teenage girl | 

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Taglines:

What is the one memory you would take with you?

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 April 1999 (Japan)

Also Known As:

After Life

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,791, 16 May 1999

Gross USA:

$801,985

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$801,985

Company Credits

Production Co:

Engine Film, Sputnik Productions, TV Man Union

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the action in After Life is shown as interviews conducted with the recently deceased regarding their lives. Some of these interviews were scripted, but many were done impromptu, with real people (not actors) reminiscing about their own lives.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Notting Hill/Besieged/Trekkies/Tea with Mussolini/After Life (1999)

User Reviews

Beautiful.

Afterlife is another film offering an answer to the unanswerable question "What happens after you die? ". Although this has been asked many times through cinema in the past, few films have answered as elegantly as Afterlife.

Directly after dying the departed are received by a group of counsellors who assist them in finding what was, for them, the most beautiful and perfect, single experience of their lives. For some the choice is easy and they are instantly able to provide the moment, which, once recreated by technicians, they remain in forever but the majority of the film concentrates upon those who are unable to find their perfect moment, and need extra help to recall past loves and lost days of their youth. The institution has the perfect means to assist this choice, with the complete life of everyone on grainy home-video, perhaps a comment on the tehcnology and recording-obsessed Japanese.

Many of the scenes are visually exceptional, especially those in the snow and everything seems very real, and, ironically, down-to-earth, especially the school building being used throughout the film giving an institutional feeling, but the interaction between the staff is where the film holds its true strength. Especially interesting is the relationship between Shiori, a newly employed worker, and Mochizuki, her mentor, which develops throughout. The film is slow to start due to the documentary style often used, but proceeds in an enveloping manner holding your attention to the end. Along with "Heaven can wait" and "Beetlejuice" this film offers another novel look at life, death and the hereafter.

The Japanese title was "Wandafuru raifu" (wonderful life, after Frank Capra) and, even though the film is dealing with death, it is a statement of how wonderful life is.

I loved this film and it stuck me stunningly and reminded me of how good films can be when they try.