CPLT 389W Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: List Of Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo Characters
25 Jun 2018
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AFTER LIFE FILM NOTES
SUMMARY:
A small mid-20th century social-service-style office is a waystation for the souls of the
recently deceased, where they are processed before entering their personal heaven – a
single happy memory re-experienced for eternity. Every Monday, a new group of
recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain their
situation. Once the newly-dead have identified their happiest memories, workers design
and replicate each person's chosen memory, which is staged and filmed. At the end of
the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in
a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she
vanishes to whatever state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory
with them. The story pays most attention to two of the "counselors," Takashi (Arata)
and Shiori (Oda). Takashi has been assigned to help an old man, Ichiro (played by
Naito Taketoshi), select his memory. Reviewing videotape of Ichiro's life, Takashi learns
that Ichiro had married Takashi's former fiancée after Takashi had been killed during
World War II. Takashi has Ichiro assigned to another counselor, but is still troubled by
his memories, causing both him and his quasi-romantic interest Shiori to re-examine
their (after-) lives.
CHOOSE A REVIEW TO DISCUSS IN CLASS:
Link: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/after-life-1999
Summary: The people materialize from out of clear white light, as a bell tolls. Where are
they? An ordinary building is surrounded by greenery and an indistinct space. They are
greeted by staff members who explain, courteously, that they have died, and are now at
a way-station before the next stage of their experience.
They will be here a week. Their assignment is to choose one memory, one only, from
their lifetimes: One memory they want to save for eternity.
Then a film will be made to reenact that memory, and they will move along, taking only
that memory with them, forgetting everything else. They will spend eternity within their
happiest memory.
That is the premise of Hirokazu Kore-eda's "After Life," a film that reaches out gently to
the audience and challenges us: What is the single moment in our own lives we
treasure the most? One of the new arrivals says that he has only bad memories. The
staff members urge him to think more deeply. Surely spending eternity within a bad
memory would be--well, literally, hell. And spending forever within our best memory
would be, I suppose, as close as we should dare to come to heaven.
Document Summary
A small mid-20th century social-service-style office is a waystation for the souls of the recently deceased, where they are processed before entering their personal heaven a single happy memory re-experienced for eternity. Every monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain their situation. Once the newly-dead have identified their happiest memories, workers design and replicate each person"s chosen memory, which is staged and filmed. At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them. The story pays most attention to two of the "counselors," takashi (arata) and shiori (oda). Takashi has been assigned to help an old man, ichiro (played by.
