Hereafter is a film that I would have never thought would be directed by Eastwood, not because he's not interested in great stories, but because of the nature of the story itself.
Hereafter is a three-way approach to death and focuses on how three different characters experience it. The first is the French journalist Marie Lelay, who survives a tsunami, but hast a near death experience and sees the other side, an experience that leads to a career path. The second is an English boy who loses his eldest twin in a accident, shuts down and tries to find a medium to speak to him. Finally, the American worker recently made redundant George Lonegan is a serious medium since childhood; however, he considers his gift a curse because he connects with dead people every time he touches a person, something that impedes her having a normal relationship. Their stories are presented separately until the three characters end connecting and their stories intersecting and becoming one.
Hereafter is a film that does not dwell on controversy, or perhaps it does by departing from the existence of the afterlife. However, it is not dogmatic about what the afterlife is, it focuses mostly on how different people experience, see, imagine or think death and what lies beyond.
The acting is solid and convincing, subtle but believable. Viewers come to empathize with the three characters, get to know them well, and develop a relationship with them.
The narrative is certainly not innovative or original, but it works well because the character's stories and experiences are quite different. Certainly, the first 40 minutes are painfully slow because, until a certain point, the stories seem not to be leading anywhere. That is what I liked the least in the film. On the positive side, those minutes are the foundation of our understanding of the three characters. Yet, because the story spent so much time there, the last part of the movie, which is the most interesting, are hurried.
I loved the music, most of it composed by Eastwood himself.
I really enjoyed this emotive and touching story. And the ending was really sweet.
Hereafter is a three-way approach to death and focuses on how three different characters experience it. The first is the French journalist Marie Lelay, who survives a tsunami, but hast a near death experience and sees the other side, an experience that leads to a career path. The second is an English boy who loses his eldest twin in a accident, shuts down and tries to find a medium to speak to him. Finally, the American worker recently made redundant George Lonegan is a serious medium since childhood; however, he considers his gift a curse because he connects with dead people every time he touches a person, something that impedes her having a normal relationship. Their stories are presented separately until the three characters end connecting and their stories intersecting and becoming one.
Hereafter is a film that does not dwell on controversy, or perhaps it does by departing from the existence of the afterlife. However, it is not dogmatic about what the afterlife is, it focuses mostly on how different people experience, see, imagine or think death and what lies beyond.
The acting is solid and convincing, subtle but believable. Viewers come to empathize with the three characters, get to know them well, and develop a relationship with them.
The narrative is certainly not innovative or original, but it works well because the character's stories and experiences are quite different. Certainly, the first 40 minutes are painfully slow because, until a certain point, the stories seem not to be leading anywhere. That is what I liked the least in the film. On the positive side, those minutes are the foundation of our understanding of the three characters. Yet, because the story spent so much time there, the last part of the movie, which is the most interesting, are hurried.
I loved the music, most of it composed by Eastwood himself.
I really enjoyed this emotive and touching story. And the ending was really sweet.