1st watched 2/6/2010 – 6 out of 10 (Dir:Kore-eda Hirokazu): Absorbing yet slow-moving drama about a station between death and everlasting life where people go to choose one memory from their past to forever be presented to them in the rest of their existence. The movie is kind of filmed in a realistic documentary style as we are shown the workplace, the workers and then the 22 people who have recently died and have to choose their one memory this week. The way it works is they have three days to choose and work with a counselor who helps them. The workers then recreate the scene with the person from the memory kind of directing the piece that they will forever see. Once they are shown the final cut they miraculously disappear and are sent to their final resting place. The movie is initially about the deceased and the process they go thru, but then we learn about the workers and why they are there also. They are there because they were unable or chose not to choose themselves when they died -- so they are kind of sentenced to help others choose until they figure it out. OK, so the process is complicated but the power of the movie is what it does inside you while watching it. You start thinking about what you'd choose (if anything). The slow pace almost kills the movie's effectiveness despite it's message though as you wait patiently for an ending. This is definitely a unique movie but it would be hard to watch more than once – but it would be worth the one watch.
Review of After Life
