Press Release Criterion Press Release: After Life (1998) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

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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.

FILM INFO​

• Japan
• 1998
• 119 minutes
• Color
• 1.66:1
• Japanese
• Spine #1089

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES​

• New 2K restoration, approved by writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Linda Ehrlich
• New interviews with Kore-eda, stills photographer–cinematographer Masayoshi Sukita, and cinematographer Yutaka Yamazaki
• Deleted scenes
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen
  
  New cover by Eric Skillman

PURCHASE OPTIONS​

Coming soon, available Aug 10, 2021
BLU-RAY1 Disc$27.96SRP: $39.95
DVD1 Disc$20.96SRP: $29.95

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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[Bryan^H]

Wow, one of the best films I've ever seen. Absolutely a day one purchase.

 

[bujaki]

+1. Absolutely! I saw this film when it came out and it made a Kore-Eda fan for life (he doesn't disappoint). A film that truly resonates.