From 1998, a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, known as "Wonderful Life" in Japan. From the Criterion site:
If you could choose only one memory to hold on to for eternity, what would it be? That’s the question at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s revelatory international breakthrough, a bittersweet fantasia in which the recently deceased find themselves in a limbo realm where they must select a single cherished moment from their life to be recreated on film for them to take into the next world. After Life’s high-concept premise is grounded in Kore‑eda’s documentary-like approach to the material, which he shaped through interviews with hundreds of Japanese citizens. What emerges is a panoramic vision of the human experience—its ephemeral joys and lingering regrets—and a quietly profound meditation on memory, our interconnectedness, and the amberlike power of cinema to freeze time.
Oh, and so much more. A commentary on Japanese culture, with its bureaucracy and rules, rules, rules. Having watched the American TV series "The Good Place", which has a similar theme, it was interesting to compare the two societies-their beliefs and values. There's a good whiff of Fellini in this film as well especially in its satire. One subplot not discussed in the blurb and integral to the story are the folks working in the afterlife, who interview and figure out how to put the newly dead's favorite memories on film. Where do they come from? Why are they there?
Intriguing concept, beautifully realized and thought provoking. Please don't be put off by the subject matter-it is not morbid at all.
Available from The Criterion Collection.
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