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I love this movie so much

the audience applauded

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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.

The dead arrive at a way station where counselors guide them to choose one memory to live with for eternity. The place is an overgrown administration building. After the counselors help the arrivals pick their memories, the film crew recreates the memory and the arrivals watch the tape. After watching the tape, they disappear into the next stage. The counselors await for the new week and the next arrivals.I love this idea. It's got great potential. However it feels a little like watching some kind of government bureaucracy. No matter how touching it gets. This has a DMV type of pacing. There is one fun section where they are recreating the memories. It could funnier but I like that section. I love this movie idea but two hours is a stretch.

Some might find the premise of this movie to be ridiculous, but the premise isn't the main part of this movie although it seems like it was trying to take itself seriously. The premise is about a normal looking building where dead people gather and alive in spirit and there is counselors and trainee that will help the people that died choose one memory that they will take with them for all of eternity. So basically the dead spirits are in a hotel until they pick a memory and move on. Also the memory is shown to the spirits through videotapes. I found it sort of humorous that the dead people in this are all Japanese with Japanese counselors and trainee and they all only speak Japanese and where clothes that look like it's from the 80's although there is a reason behind the way they are dressed, but like I said the premise is part of it, a lot of it but still part of it. The movie sort of feels like a documentary with interviews of the dead during part of the after life although the premise is ridiculous and also since there is almost no music it plays a big factor in it. This movie has it's target audience, mainly because of it's artsy style but isn't for everyone. I sort of found this movie to be a bit tedious at times and although the life stories of the dead people was believable for the most part but it was boring to listen to. It's like your when your on a bus, train or even on a plane where some old people constantly ramble on and on and just won't stop talking about their past. In fact in the movie "Airplane!" the people that hear the protagonist's story killed themselves out of boredom. I wouldn't go that extreme but it was boring to watch these interviews, plus the protagonist's life story in "Airplane!" had some humor in it. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching artsy films that isn't really for the mainstream, however I didn't enjoy this movie all that much. Perhaps I am missing something because despite the positive reviews this movie has been getting, I didn't think it was that great. On a positive note this movie does somewhat makes you reflect on certain parts of your life and the humanistic aspects is done pretty well. The movie moves very slowly but sometimes it can be slightly absorbing, but the only thing that kept me watching was to find out the ending and that was the main reason. This film has some good elements but it just isn't utilized that well, I probably won't be seeing this movie again seeing how I struggled while watching it the first time. But like I said this movie has it's target audience, I just wasn't really one of them.6.5/10

The rather simplistic plot of this film involves a sort of way-station for souls passing on into the afterlife at which they must choose a single memory to take with them. This memory is reproduced on film in true low-budget fashion, then as the film is screened each person disappears into the great beyond as their memory is played. The conflicts arises out of the different ways those passing through choose what memory to take with them and the experiences of the staff.This is probably the most accessible of director Koreeda's films, especially for a Western audience. His low-key directorial style is expertly matched to the tone of the film, which is set in an abandoned school. The sort of running gag throughout the film is the general shabbiness of the proceeding, which stands in stark contrast with what many of us might imagine the hereafter to be like. In one scene, where the staff tries to reproduce a man's memory of flying in an airplane, cotton balls suspended on wires serve as clouds.Overall this is a very poignant, low-key yet satisfying film that is very watchable and a good gateway into the world of Koreeda's films. It lacks the social commentary of other works such as Distance or Nobody Knows, but makes up for it with a touching story and emotional content, and is very accessible even to those with little interest in foreign or Japanese films.