Don't read this until you've seen it...
I've seen the original, "Fahrenheit 451," at least half a dozen times; I wonder if I'll see this that many. I'd stack this right alongside that. I found it deeply moving, but then I've lost someone close and it's prolly natural to access our own grief when we see someone else who is struggling with their own.
I have two questions, and if I find their answers elsewhere I'll edit in down below:
1. What did Mika say to Yang in Mandarin when she visited his empty room?
2. Did it seem like he ran out of memory, but wasn't willing to sacrifice any of his old memories? And, did it seem that was the cause of his, "off state?"
I hope, if this future happens that we do better at acknowledging them as part of our family -- funerals are for the survivors, and grief should be allowed. However, as much as it bothers me in retrospect that clones and bots have such a diminished status in society, while watching it i was simply caught up in the beauty of the idea their adopted son had two or three seconds a day to record what was important to him...what would it be?
Edit, one month after watching:
This film continues to haunt me. Instead of thinking of how much more engaged the father has become, I continue to focus on Yang's POV. When he spotted the clone of the woman he'd previously known -- I think that must've been the closest he could've come to being happy. When he confided ("Can I be honest with you?") that he was okay if there was nothing afterwards, he was ready...he didn't look forward to, "dying," or whatever, but he'd come to understand his situation,knew what he meant to his charge, knew he was running out of storage space...could see the end was coming, and was at peace with it.
I'm reminded of the closing speech by Robert Redford at the end of, "A River Runs Through It," except Yang knows he'll be survived by a couple of People close to him.
Koganada does not disappoint and i cannot wait to see more of his works in the future;
the way each scene in After Yang is so carefully crafted, even the simplest of pillow shots have the most intricate details & effort put into them and excellent frame compositing,
the vfx, as subtle as they were, from the car rides to the memory flashbacks, absolutely stunning work, i especially ADORED the flashback VFX they did,
the musuem's set was very well designed, i really loved the usage of mirrors like in one of Kogonada's previous movies (one of my favorites of his and of all time), Columbus (2017); and when that Cello melody / OST starts playing in the background during the museum scene? absolute chills. // Ryuichi Sakamoto and Aska Matsumiya did some incredible work with the score;
Collin Farrel was amazing in this movie, and i'm starting to like the actor a lot since i've seen him in The Banshees of Inisherin and now After Yang;
one of my favorite shots has got to be that one towards the end of the movie, after that heartbreaking flashback scene of the Alpha memories that is accompanied by that sorrowful & melancholic piano in the background, absolutely beautiful, the shot had a sunset sun peaking through many tree branches, the shot was so well framed and stunning, oh GOD
the end has left me a bit confused and curious, the way they ended the movie in that Hold Frame style, as to indicate that it might have been another memory that was played through to the end and it just stopped, or could it be more? damn
Review by JoJoConejoBlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-05T00:12:58Z
Visually magnificent, words that come to mind to describe Kogonada are rituality and aesthetic musicality, if it makes sense. A philosopher of tea, after this?
I felt an incomplete connection with the characters. Maybe it was too reflective to allow to create attachment and delve into them properly.
I think I loved Columbus more because of the exchanges of ideas, the dynamic between the characters which led to a mutual growth. Here it felt more one-sided: through Yang's eyes, a blossoming for Jake.
Still, beautiful and poetic