politic1983 To paraphrase Nobu-san, our guide around the Okunoin cemetery at Koya-san: "In Japan, when we are born, we have Shinto rituals. When we die, we have Buddhist rituals. My mum got married in a church: New Caledonia." Buddhism in Japan is often associated with death. When one dies, the ceremonies that take place will often be Buddhist, but as Donald Richie explores, these could be as much for functional purpose as religious belief. But, obviously of course, no one knows what actually happens when you die. Or do we? It depends whether one is thinking about it from the perspective of the body or the soul. Yojiro Takita's Oscar-winning 2008 "Departures" see cellist Daigo's (popular hair model Masahiro Motoki) orchestra disband in Tokyo, leaving him doubtful of his talent and so his future. On a whim, he convinces his wife - with little coercion - into moving back to his small hometown in Yamagata, moving into the cafe his mother left him. Needing work, he responds to an ad with few details, but nice pay packets, and is immediately hired. It soon turns out that his job will be as an "encoffinfer", performing the Japanese noukan ritual of preparing the body before it is placed into the coffin (and then burnt, of course). Not an easy job, he struggles to cope at first and soon feels society's evil eyes once his new job is learnt: perceived as a dirty man for his handling of dead bodies. As the film progresses, so does his skill, winning over his doubters, including his wife, and finding what would appear to be a true calling: sending the bodies of the recently deceased on their final journey, coming to terms with some of the opportunities missed in life. Ten years earlier, Kore-eda Hirokazu released his second feature film: 1998's "After Life" (or perhaps its more appropriate Japanese title "Wandafuru Raifu"). Here, there after life probably isn't quite what you expected. Upon dying, you enter a somewhat New England-esque academic building, taking a ticket as if a doctor's waiting room. On this "Monday morning", you are assigned a counsellor who will pose you the situation: You have a week to choose the one memory of your life which you will take with you for eternity. This memory is recreated by a somewhat haphazard film crew, starring your good self, and the film is then shown to you in a cinema. Once viewed, you disappear for eternity, locked in that memory. Somewhat fanciful, the counsellors are all people that were either unable, or refused, to make the choice, and thus stay in a purgatory of administration and archiving, forever reliving Monday morning. A series of interviews are conducted with the various recently deceased, with now long-experienced - but still youthful in look - Takashi (Arata) given the task of counselling the man who married his fiancée after he died. Opening up some old wounds, Takashi spends the week contemplating his own favourite memories and finally makes his choice.The outlooks of the two films are quite different in their thoughts on death. "After Life" plays little on the sadness of having died. Those that enter are quite chipper, one must say, on learning that they've just kicked the bucket. As the Japanese title suggests, it's very much about celebrating the most precious, and wonderful, memories that we have of our lives. This could perhaps be down to Kore-eda's combination of actors and real-life ordinary folk discussing their favourite memories. Using his documentary skills, this is as much an exploration of memory than a mourning of death. "Departures", however, is very much aware of the sadness of death. Very reminiscent of Shunji Iwai's "Love Letter" in numerous ways, there are moments of sentimentality, tugging at the heartstrings, as well as plucking on the cello strings. Tears and emotion run throughout; the sadness of the families a key theme. A shot of a young child's body being prepared for their coffin accompanied by their smiling photo, hitting home the sadness in the simplest of ways. Though family tears and timely music perhaps dominate, going for more conventional crowd-(dis)pleasing. This is absent from "After Life", laying people's memories out before them to celebrate and chew on; more philosophical than sentimental. If death hurts those left behind, "After Life" is the memories of life for the deceased; whereas "Departures" is the final memory for the mourners. If we're looking at religion in Japanese death, however, "After Life" perhaps lacks any religion. Death is a bureaucratic process than a passing over. As seen in other films, such as Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice", death is likened to the administrative Hell on Earth of waiting rooms, form-filling and box-ticking. It's also a strange film in that it's very much of its time, serving as a time capsule, with the provision of lo-fi VHS cassette tapes for "clients" to view moments from their lives to help them in their choice. Surely the after life's administrative team can come up with a less archaic system! The recreations also seem to be more "human" and of the "real world", made to a seemingly small budget and limited time frame, far from Hollywood glitz and glam that many of the dead may have wished to achieve in the film of their life. A theme running throughout Kore-eda's body of work, this is perhaps as much a comment on the modern nature of memory and how we try to recreate it in permanent form rather than live in the moment of emotion. A comment as relevant now as ever. "Departures" features the religious ceremony of the noukan, placing the body in ritual dress, with accompanying make-up. But with even this dying out with the elderly, it perhaps reflects Richie's doubts as to the true religious nature of these "performances". Making the dead look their best is perhaps purely for aesthetic purposes, giving mourners one last perfect memory. Daigo's skill is very much in-line with Japanese aesthetics: The almost perfect folding with due care and attention of the deceased clothes, creating an intimate one-on-one with the body. "After Life", with its counsellors getting deep into their clients personal lives and directing them towards their perfect choice: Ones who struggle are probed to search deeper; those who go obvious, are challenged to look more inwards, creating an intimate one-on-one with the soul. Mono no aware, the Japanese sense of the fleeting nature of beauty and the impermanence of all things is alive in both films. Daigo's hard work and skill is - for want of a better word - in vain; the bodies made beautiful, only to be burnt at cremation soon after. "After Life" forces the choice of the single moment that defines a whole existence (and they only give you a week!). The last memory for the living versus the eternal memory for the dead; and perhaps a more Japanese sense of religion than any organised belief system.politic1983.blogspot.co.uk

ironhorse_iv Set in a dreary Japanese brick school-building, the film tells the story of the recently deceased, having one week to choose, one of their most cherished memories in order to replay that life experience for the rest of their eternity with the help of civil servants who will recreate the memory on film. Without spoiling this existential insight film, too much, I just had to say, I didn't felt the out-of-body experience as I should had. Don't get me wrong, 'Afterlife' AKA 'Wonderful Life' does have a great movie concept, but I though the execution from director Hirokazu Koreeda, and his crew just didn't click. I think, one of the problems with this film, is the fact that Korreda doesn't do enough to make the characters seem like they're dead. Don't get me wrong, the acting is fine, but it's weird to see, these souls, being able to drink tea and eat food, sleep, and leave the compound for location scouting. It's not very convincing that they are indeed passed on. Honestly, if I was able to do all that, as a civil servant, I wouldn't choose a memory, too!! Also, the school building location wasn't a good choice. For a place that supposed to represented 'limbo', it had too much life, there. The background sounds of birds chirping, dogs barking and trains moving, was very distracting. For me, a very white clean underground hospital or lab, with little to no background sound, would be a better choice. It would be, more appealing to the story tones. Also, it really doesn't really make sense that the counselors have to recreate the memory in seven days, if they already have the video footage of all the demise in VCR tapes. Why not, play the video with the memory, in a loop!? I get the God built the world in seven days, reference, but honestly, if you put logic in this illogical movie, it really does take you out of the movie, when they were able to build sets, make costumes, and film in only a few days (3 days at the most). Also, are we supposed to believe that the crew and cast that the counselors, brought in to help; are also dead, because it really didn't seem, so. How are they able to return, but not the dead family of the recently demises for this recreation!? Plus, there is way, too many characters to follow. Even with the film telling a few backstories on who they were, I still had trouble, figuring out, which character's story is which person. Also, it really sucks, the movie never shows the final film footage for those characters. It was less, 'flash before their eyes' and more 'flash in a pan'. Nevertheless, I did like the semi-fake documentary interview style filmmaking that Korreda does, even if the film cuts were very noticeable. Much of the entertaining parts in this movie is shown, through 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. It really does add an extra layer of truth behind the images. Still, it wasn't as emotional as it should had. Maybe, it's the Nihonjinron pride that Japanese culture has, not to show, weakness, but I really thought, some of them, were a little laidback, when talking about, some really heavy stuff. I really wanted to see, some more yelling, crying, and fight in them. Instead, it seems like, everybody there, was alright with the fact that they're dead, and not living. Still, those parts of the film, weren't that boring. I just wish, they were a little more philosophic in their talk, rather than spilling out mostly forgettable dialogue. While, they talk a little about Japanese's moral dilemma on traditions about life, the film really miss the boat on talking about the Bushido code that the old guard establishment believes in, and YOLO (You only live once) lifestyle of the shrinking percentage of young people. It really could had been an eye-opener. Still, I like the twist, toward the end of the film, even if it's a bit unclear, what's happening. In the end, I have to say, this movie really needed much better production values. The low budget really kill the mood for this film. It's sad, because I like the reexamining of our lives, through the use of our afterlife, idea. Sadly, it didn't really leave an impact on me, as it should had. I'd love to see this concept remade with a high budget, with a more visionary director, one day. Overall: I can still highly recommended, seeing this movie. Just note, it's not as good as the cult-followers think, it is.

GyatsoLa A run down school, a seemingly random group of people conducting awkward interviews with new arrivals seems an odd way to look at the afterlife, but Kore-eda has created something really special with this film. He somehow makes an enormously unlikely scenario for purgatory - where the dead are asked to select the memory they wish to hold onto forever, and (most unlikely!), this is recreated by a ramshackle low budget film crew, and turns it into something profound and beautiful. The film is a truly remarkable ensemble effort - there are no real stars in this film (despite a beautiful minor part from that truly great actress, Kyoko Kagawa), even the most minor characters (including an adorable old lady in the throes of a mercifully pleasant dementia) are given their own time and space and are depicted wonderfully. Dull looking salarimen who struggle to find memories that are worth keeping are shown to have lives of real depth and quality. A schoolgirl is dissuaded from a clichéd remembrance of a nice day in Disneyland, and instead remembers a beautiful moment with her mother. A mouthy, sex obsessed older man is shown to be boastful simply as a way of hiding the real love he has for his daughter. The film is obviously open to all sorts of interpretations, but for what its worth it seems to me to be about the importance of those small moments of joy, of grace, that make life worth living. Interestingly, he implies that those moments don't necessarily have to have really happened - it is the memory that is important, not the reality. Just one moment of ecstasy is maybe just enough for a life worth living.The film sounds quirky and slow, and it is paced at the speed of life - slow, but all too fast at the end. But it is never less than engrossing and in the end, beautiful and moving. Kore- edas films are not disposable entertainment, they are real art of the type that will stay with you forever if you allow them to wash over you. Try it, you won't regret it.

dromasca This film is provides an unexpected answer to the question 'what happens in after-life?'. Well, contrary to the well spread beliefs there is no Hell and no Paradise and it is not Saint Peter who expects us but a rather dull team of what look like government clerks working in the rather dull building of a Japanese reception institution. They receive the people, they discuss with them their memories, and ask them to keep one - just one - significant moment in their lives which they will take with them into eternity. All the rest will be forgotten. The rest of the week the fresh dead spend in the institution is dedicated to making an amateur film based on their single memory. They go to the projection room, the lights go off, the films are projected. When the lights are turned back on there is nobody left. We do not know what happened with them. Only the boxes with the films remain to be archived forever.It is the first film of director Hirokazu Koreeda that I see. It is an unusually sensible, smart and simply made movie. The first part is filmed like a documentary, with fixed camera, style professional interviews. The second part uses hand-held camera, looking as the amateur films would have looked like. Actors are wonderful, there are many different characters, but each one is an individual, and that feeling of 'all look the same' that an European viewer has many times with Asian films is not present here at all. 'Wandâfuru raifu' is a film that makes the viewer think about their own lives and their meaning. Few films succeed this so well.