Hereafter - The Afterlife - Blu-Ray

Film: Clint Eastwood once again proves his versatility with his 32nd directorial effort Hereafter - The Afterlife. With Steven Spielberg producing and a script by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) as a basis, Eastwood has directed a moving film about death. In doing so, he moves very close to the border of campy spirituality, but manages masterfully to skirt it at all times.

The film tells the stories of three people, all of whom have had different experiences with death. In Indonesia, French journalist Marie (Cécile de France) falls victim to a devastating tsunami and is saved at the very last second. But the near-death experience has changed the otherwise rational journalist and made her face more than just her own mortality. In London, little Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren) loses his twin brother in a tragic accident and desperately searches for a way to cope with the loss. And in San Francisco, psychic George (Matt Damon) tries to live a normal life despite his gift that allows him to communicate with the beyond. As different as these three people's experiences are, what they have in common is a search for the right path, a search that will intertwine their lives in fundamental ways...

After the accidental death of a close friend, writer Peter Morgan began to explore death, mortality and near-death experiences, which eventually resulted in the screenplay for Hereafter - The Afterlife. The great feat of the screenplay and Eastwood's sensitive production is that no firm standpoint is actually taken here, no definitive dismissive, skeptical or overly esoteric approving stance is taken, or religious aspects are too obtrusively woven into the story. It is almost entirely dispensed with. Rather, a quiet, empathetic portrait of three people at a significant turning point is told, a turning point that in all three cases involves death in some way and is meant to lead them back to life.

The afterlife is presented as a possibility, but always in such a way that it could still be rationally explained in some way by skeptics. Yet the very possibility of it somehow continuing after death is presented as redemption for the living, as a way to learn to cope with their loss or experience of death. Of course, the character of George in particular, played very well by Matt Damon, is one that the viewer can only find believable if there is some openness to spirituality. But since the focus of the film is not his abilities themselves, but the impossibility of leading a normal life with them, even skeptics are likely to sympathize with George.

It is almost unbelievable how magnificently Eastwood avoids kitschy elements here. Only the music, composed by himself, wears a little too thick at times. With an obviously quite decent budget, which is revealed especially in the very moving tsunami sequence at the beginning of the film, and with wonderful actors, among whom the twin pair Frankie and George McLaren, who both alternately play both Marcus and Jason, inspire, Clint Eastwood has hit the mark again. He's created a very quiet, moving film without a lot of kitsch or pathos, and while it deals with death, it celebrates life. Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the Blu-Ray can definitely convince. The different color schemes for the scenes in San Francisco, Paris and London come out well in the home theater. And the sharpness of detail in the very clean image is also convincing. The audio remains largely restrained, but the tsunami sequence at the beginning of the film features some very good surround effects, though these come across better on the English soundtrack and its DTS-HD MA mix than the German Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Still, overall there's a well-deserved: very good!

Extras: Hidden behind the In the Afterlife with Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon item are nine focus points with a total running time of 42 minutes, covering such things as the shooting of the tsunami sequence, casting, relationship among twins, filming locations, afterlife research, or working with Clint Eastwood. Together, the short documentaries make for a pretty decent making of, which is best viewed independently of the film. But for those who prefer to watch the film repeatedly interrupted by the short features, that option is also available.

The second extra is the 88-minute version of the documentary The Eastwood Factor, which goes into extensive detail about the close relationship between Eastwood and the Warner Bros. studio. Accompanied by Moragn Freeman as narrator, the documentary consists primarily of clips from Eastwood's films, but there are also many interviews, pictures and footage from shoots. A good documentary, which should be a very nice addition to the main film for fans of the actor and director.

Conclusion: With Hereafter - The Afterlife Eastwood has created a very sensitive drama with a slight mystery touch. Not his best film, but definitely good entertainment on a high level. The Blu-Ray is technically on a good level and comes with the documentary The Eastwood Factor and a decent look behind the scenes with some very worth seeing extras. For this there is a: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp