After Life (1998) 118 Minutes

Our second glorious week under the stars followed two major disputes

between Movienight’s Crew and the Crew of MNN. The first battle field was

the Comments area on Movienight’s ‘Hustle & Flow’ page, and a second

skirmish played out on MNN’s ‘Risky Business’ page. Both groups offered

apologies and extended olive branches prior to this, Netti’s third Japanese

Selection.

Movienight’s new Back Yard had a slightly improved seating arrangement for

our Second Pick at Nubby’s home, and it was a good thing given the

attendance explosion that accompanied Netti’s long-awaited follow-up to

‘The Swimmer.’ Netti himself had been unable to join us of late as business and other real world concerns has plagued his availability of late. Familiar associates Pat Towne and Johnnie G. also returned to the group after extended leaves of absence. Wiener once again was unavailable, but the rest of our Official Membership was on hand for the film. Though co-Host Joby opted for bed rather than a movie, Bourbon Cookie’s presence brought the total to nine.

Prior to the film, Tooda was perhaps the most vociferous champion of quiet from the assembled throng, but many grumbled after the film that his had been the loudest voice throughout the presentation. Other voices were raised when the bulk of the Crew returned to Tooda’s crib for post-film discussion. It was back at Tooda’ Crib that glasses were raised as well for the 35th Birthday of WildCard Slim. Amazingly, Slim is the third Member since May to turn 35 at midnight after a Movienight Presentation. First was Wiener who turned 35 following Buffy’s ‘The Misfits,’ then Tooda did the same following his own ‘Meatballs,’ and now Slim has joined this odd coincidental trinity of aging Members.

Netti’s pick seemed very well received, and the principal question of the film - “What memory would you choose to live with eternally if you could only choose one?” - provoked a great deal of thought and conversation among the group.

‘After Life’ is our eleventh foreign language film.

Wiener’s absence forced the rotation flip-flop that brought Netti to the plate this week, and hopefully Ben will be on hand next week to present his long awaited follow up to ‘Bringing Up Baby.’

“I thought to myself, I could get somewhere with these people...”

Written and Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda

Brandon Comments:

For the first time in I don’t know how long, I can honestly say that I didn’t mind reading subtitles across the bottom of one of Netti’s Selections. It may have been because the subtitles were 16 inches high across our new Sheet in our new Backyard, and it may have been because 'After Life' was just a great film with a steady pace that didn’t require much analytical interpretation of translated languages. I think it was a little of both.

I really liked ‘After Life’ – plain and simple. The film’s setup was slow and concentrated, and forced you to chew up every scene, every bit of dialogue, and every character that appeared. And this film causes the viewer to question his or her own beliefs in the hereafter by challenging their interpretation of Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, reincarnation, heaven, hell – without ever labeling any of it.

I only have two negative remarks about this film:

1) We never get to see the finished filmed memories of each soul. That is the payoff! The film’s director went to great lengths to tease the audience throughout the entire film – we saw the film crew staging each memory; we saw each character describing their memory; we saw the props and sets being created for each memory – but we never get to see the finished piece. I don’t like to be teased if the handjob doesn’t come with it.

2) And why would this particular heaven need to recreate a memory? I mean, I love the idea of each person being allowed to carry only one memory with them…but carry it to where? To the next life? To infinite blackness? To an eternity in some paradise? We never find that out. We only find out that they have some sort of screening party at the end of their purgatory, where each person’s greatest memory is broadcast via a movie projector. But is that it for the greatest memory of someone’s life? Does each person get a VHS copy of that memory to take with them?

‘After Life’ caused me to delve into my mind and find my greatest memory…just in case – and I found out that my greatest memory will happen in Spain in 2009. So I got that going for me…

Great pick, Netti. Another hidden gem was shown the warm light of a successful MovieNight.

Nubs Comments:

Yes, when Netti’s latest Japanese subtitled pick introduced itself to the screen, I was vexed. However, any worries I might have had quickly evaporated into the West Hollywood sky, while my heart and head reflected on the eternal questions this gem offers. I really enjoyed taking the trip through memory lane of my own life and this representative group of Japanese characters in the afterlife. The naturalistic style of the pace and acting truly made me feel like I was sitting among my fellow man pondering what is important in life. Oh, that sounds like Movienight. Good job, Netti. I was also thrilled to have the subtitles because I instantly realized sound would not be a concern.

I do wish the movie might have given us a bit more in its finale. The third act starts to introduce the moments of dark screen that could be an ending, which got me worrying about the presence of resolution. When we indeed came back to the narrative after those long pauses I rooted for the relief of a climax. Alas, the movie stubbornly stuck to its languid tone and remained an unsatisfactory one-trick pony. I still appreciated the majority of the movie and the time and peace to meditate on life and the after life.

I wonder if it was a clever play to make the title “After Life” or if in Japanese there is no direct translation for “afterlife”. Netti? Anyway, despite the shit we give him, Netti is a deeply thoughtful fellow and a provocative selector each time.

With your next selection, Ben #3, I’ll give you the driveway.

SELECTOR Comments:

When the viewer finds out that the people working in at the purgatorial junior college campus way station were those who could not themselves choose a memory in which to be eternally immersed, ‘After Life’ also known as

ワンダフライフ

or 'Wonderful Life' takes on a tone that renders the Japanese title a bit ironic. To view it a second time it then becomes down right spooky.

These ghostly figures who are chained to purgatory until they, themselves are able to set themselves free only to be chained to one particular memory for eternity. The banal yet ever so slightly ethereal portrayal of purgatory is enjoyable on the first viewing, then quite wonderful on the second, only to become exquisite on the third and subsequent viewings. This progression is a journey into an aesthetic fetishism that is close to that of my encounter with motsu nabe, a Japanese tripe soup; an acquired and eventually singular taste, to be sure.

Which leads me to a conclusion that hadn't occurred to me before writing this Comment, and also serves as a particular isolation of my notions of quality with respect to film. The fact that film is a repeatable experience without any degradation is not a deficit as I have written previously (see my comments on ‘The Swimmer’). It is in fact an opportunity to discover more from the same set of experiences as many times as one would like. If it is a well-created, or at least an engaging set of experiences (a film, or a chain store that leaves space for subjective discovery then it will turn into an experience that might be one of the best: an obsession.

A smaller version of the repetition of a memory for eternity perhaps.

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