"Really? You can forget? Well,
then that really IS heaven!"
The first time I watched 'after life' was with my mother years ago and we both loved it. When I created this blog and was looking for my first film to post she and I thought of this one but could not remember the name of it. Last month I was lucky enough to stumble across it.
I watched it again with my partner David about a week ago and since then have found myself pondering the question that all the characters in the film had to answer :
If I could choose only one memory to take with me into the after life what would that one memory be?
As David and I hiked this last weekend through the wintery woods of New England we spent most of our time thinking back about our lives and sharing some of our peak moments. We then discussed whether we might choose one of these memories and if yes or no or possibly-why or why not?Even though I don't believe in an afterlife , I have now spent many hours searching for that one special memory and can commiserate with the struggle that so many of the film's characters underwent to reach their conclusion. And they only had three days!
If any of you have thought about this since watching the movie would you care to share a part of that process with the rest of us? Do you think you would be able to narrow it down to one memory if push came to shove? Or might you spend a whollota time working at the way station as did Mochizuki? Would you refuse as did 21 year old lIseya? Did you (or do you think you would?) find the effort painful (as did Watanabe), pleasurable or as in my case a mixture of both?
Any and all responses to this film on whatever level would be most appreciated.
