Review of After Life (1999) by Chad N — 01 Mar 2009

The wonderfully inventive and interesting idea at the heart of the film is addled with bizarre choices in execution and story, leaving a great feeling of failed potential.

I suppose, to be fair, it's a slightly difficult concept to build a narrative around, but their attempts, while more or less in vain, seem to have been at the expense of depth.

Despite the perfect set-up to do so, the film makes no effort to consider the human condition whatsoever - strange, that a film revolving around how we might chose a moment to encapsulate a life says so little about what it means and how it feels to live. So little about very much at all, in all honesty.

That said, it's thoroughly charming, has a beautiful, almost barren aesthetic simplicity, a delicate quirkiness, and at times is very funny indeed, but isn't strong enough to support it's 118 minute running time, the flimsy narrative and lack of depth leaving a good portion of the film dragging a great deal. I wouldn't dream of watching this film again, but it had some great moments, and has such a wonderful concept at heart that it can't help but be thought-provoking.