Wandâfuru raifu (1998)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer:

Hirokazu Koreeda (writer)

Release Date:

17 April 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

What is the one memory you would take with you?

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Eternity | Videotape | Old Man | Heaven

Awards:

7 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Arata	...	Takashi Mochizuki, counsellor
Erika Oda	...	Shiori Satonaka, trainee counsellor
Susumu Terajima	...	Satoru Kawashima, counsellor
Takashi Naitô	...	Takuro Sugie, counsellor
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
Yusuke 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
Kotaro 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

Also Known As:

After Life (Canada: English title) (USA)
Afterlife (UK)
Wonderful Life (literal title)

Runtime:

Brazil:118 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | South Korea:All | Taiwan:GP | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Peru:14 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG

Company:

Engine Film

Movie Connections:

References Rebecca (1940)

A quietly stunning fantasy as documentary.

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 - filmmaking in recent memory.