i saw it in an art house theater in san francisco, between 1996-2000.

it's a japanese movie with subtitles

in the movie, people come to a building after they die. they have to
think of their favorite memory of their whole life. they have a couple
days to think of it. when they think of it, the people who work there
recreate the scene, and film it. the people who died watch the film of
their favorite memory and disappear, and forever they are reliving
that memory. it's all very quiet and beaurocratic, like they work in a
government office. they are mostly young people working there, and all
normal people, no angels or anything

in the movie, one guy's dream is to be sitting on a bench with a woman
he loved before he went off to war and died. there were white blossoms
falling in the air. there was a love triangle thing where it turns out
that someone who was working there was the girl in his dream, and
meeting his old girlfriend allowed him to have his own favorite memory
and move on from there. in a parallel story, someone else couldn't
come up with a favorite memory and was stuck to work there, taking the
place of the guy that left. the movie ended the way it began, with a
new batch of people who just died filing into the room to hear the
introductory briefing.

Hi there

I think you're looking for "Wandafuru Raifu", made in 1998 and also
called "After Life" in the US.  A plot summary on the International
Movie Database starts:
"After people die, they spend a week with counselors, also dead, who
help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity.
They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it
and screen it at week's end; eternity follows. "
There are comments there confirming details you gave, like the guy who
went off to war leaving behind the woman he loved and the falling
blossom.  Read more at:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0165078

You can actually buy it at Amazon (but there are only 3 left):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567301827/ref=ase_imdb-adbox/102-3879927-6668923

Please let me know if anything needs clarification.

And now I want to see it.....

Regards - Leli

search notes:  I typed in "Japanese" and "Afterlife" into the  IMDb

---

Clarification of Answer by leli-ga on 13 Sep 2002 08:59 PDT

Thanks for the feedback - Leli

i tried searching imdb too but i couldn't find it because i was
searching for the word "dream" for some stupid reason :(

thanks

....reminds one of the US movie " Soylent Green"  with Charlon Heston
where people were allowed to view on screen their favourite things
such as strawberries & cream, or horses galloping in beautiful green
fields etc etc before they too were ushered in to an area to have
their life taken away by government agents. The backdrop was a very
empty world where beautiful food and countryside had been all but been
wiped out only to be experienced by a priveledged few, hence the deep
desire for those about to be eliminated to see such memories for the
last time. Seen it as a kid and kept me spellbound and never can
forget it.

 John From Melbourne

You might want to see Albert Brooks' film, "Defending Your Life".

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0101698

thanks, i'm very familiar with soylent green and own the dvd of
defending your life (albert brooks fan) but this movie was different.
it was very unconstructed, almost like a documentary, and the story
was simple yet profound, like a fable. it was really moving and
thought-provoking, but of course lacking in any kind of humor.

I wanted to see the film you mentioned, but I missed it in the
theaters.  Thanks for reminding me about it.

You've probably have also seen Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (Yume),
Beetlejuice, and What Dreams May Come.

http://us.imdb.com/List?tv=on&&keywords=afterlife&&heading=19;afterlife

Yes, i thought Dreams was "nice" but not particularly rewarding. I did
like the scene with all the trees on the hill.

Beetlejuice was great - Michael Keaton was terrific in the 80's.

What Dreams May Come - didn't see it, looks like typical h'wood
populist tripe to me

AfterLife is one of my favourite films - very much worth watching, for
those who haven't seen it.

There is a brief review with some info on the director here, as well
as a link to a place where you can buy your own copy:

http://www.artlic.com/films/afterlife.html

SeaDragon-ga