| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Arata Iura | ... |
Takashi Mochizuki, counselor
(as Arata)
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Erika Oda | ... |
Shiori Satonaka, trainee counselor
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Susumu Terajima | ... |
Satoru Kawashima, counselor
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Takashi Naitô | ... |
Takuro Sugie, counselor
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Kyôko Kagawa | ... |
Kyoko Watanabe, Ichiro's Wife
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Kei Tani | ... |
Kennosuke Nakamura, boss
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Taketoshi Naitô | ... |
Ichiro Watanabe, who cannot choose his favourite experience
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Tôru Yuri | ... |
Gisuke Shoda, who talks about sex
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| Yûsuke Iseya | ... |
Yusuke Iseya, who refuses to choose his experience
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Sayaka Yoshino | ... |
Kana Yoshino, talks about Disneyland
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Kazuko Shirakawa | ... |
Nobuko Amano, who talks about her affair with a married man
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Kôtarô Shiga | ... |
Kenji Yamamoto, who wants to forget his past
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Hisako Hara | ... |
Kiyo Nishimura, old lady who loves cherry blossoms
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Sadao Abe | ... |
Ichiro (as young man)
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Natsuo Ishidô | ... |
Kyoko Watanabe as a young woman
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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. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week's end; eternity follows. 22 dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee. One old man cannot find a memory, so he watches videotape of his life. Others pick their memory quickly, and the film crew gets right to work. The trainee, 18-year-old Shiori, helps a teenage girl choose a memory other than Disneyland. The youthful staff have a secret and feelings, too, which play out, especially Shiori's affection for her mentor, Mochizuki Written by <[email protected]>
The Afterlife is best thought of as a kind of thought experiment, perhaps in the same vein as Groundhog Day. The point is not that this may be what we experience after death; it is rather that we need to think more about what it is in this life that we'd really like to keep with us forever.
This point needs emphasis. When asked what we want most in life, most of us will talk about our career, or a business venture perhaps, or some other accomplishment. This movie suggests that these kinds of things may not, at the end of the day, be so important as some other experiences we may have. In any case, it challenges us to rethink what it is we really value.
Some reviewers complain about the quite ordinary surroundings and "poor production values" of the movie. I prefer to think of the choice of sets etc as humble and realistic. Could any movie, whatever its budget, ever possibly do justice to this subject matter?
Much of this movie is devoted to explorations of the lives of a number of rather ordinary people, trying to identify their most cherished memories. Some reviewers have condemned The Afterlife as boring, boring, BORING on this account. It all depends on whether other people interest you. If all you want to see is car chases, sex, explosions, cool special effects,...avoid this movie. Only, it's worth noting that the lives and thoughts of others may help us to better understand ourselves. And nowhere more so than in this movie.