| A still from Hereafter  | Critic's Rating: ***1/2 Cast: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, George Mclaren, Frankie Mclaren Direction: Clint Eastwood Genre: Drama Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes Readers Rating:**** |
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Serious and philosophical look at death and the sense of loss
Story: Three people encounter death in different ways and learn to cope with it. Blue collar worker, George (Matt Damon) is a psychic who has the power to communicate with dead people. Journalist Marie (Cecile De France) has a near-death experience during a vacation in Indonesia. School boy Marcus (Frankie Mclaren) loses a dear one and cannot seem to be able to live without him. Their paths intermingle in their search for normalcy and the threesome end up connecting in strange ways.
Movie Review: When Clint Eastwood makes a movie, you got to sit up and watch. For ever since his early directorial venture, Unforgiven, Eastwood has proved himself to be a storyteller of import. He takes up serious issues and tackles them with a rare sensitivity which stands out in stark contrast to his cowboy cult.
If the last time you heard him raising a gun against racial discrimination in The Gran Torino, or applauding the leadership of Nelson Mandela in Invictus, this time you hear him out in hushed undertones as he scripts a soft, sensitive and sentimental story about loss and longing. How must humans face the fears of their own mortality and cope with the death of their loved ones: that's Eastwood's million dollar question in Hereafter. More importantly, he tries to explore that great philosophical dilemma: Is there a hereafter; if so, are humans happy out there....
Eastwood takes up three different stories and smartly blends them together, despite the disparate characters and their diverse settings. Marie, the French journalist travels to London for a book release and ends up meeting the man of her dreams, but only due to the help of a young boy. All the three characters are bound together by a single reality: their encounter with death in different forms. It is the genius of Eastwood which not only manages to seamlessly string the three stories together, but also imbues all of them with depth and gravitas. If Matt Damon lends a refined heroism to his trauma as a psychic who is unable to form normal relationships, then Cecile de France's journey towards self-discovery is equally riveting. But it is the young Mclaren's lonely anguish that enraptures you with its raw poignancy. The boy is simply a delight to watch. A word about the tsunami that strikes in the opening notes of the film: breath-taking!
Matt Damon has recently been voted as Hollywood's most bankable star. Hereafter shows you why. There's much more to the talented Mr Damon than his Bourne identity. And there's a loftiness to Clint Eastwood's cinema too. Watch it.
Story: Three people encounter death in different ways and learn to cope with it. Blue collar worker, George (Matt Damon) is a psychic who has the power to communicate with dead people. Journalist Marie (Cecile De France) has a near-death experience during a vacation in Indonesia. School boy Marcus (Frankie Mclaren) loses a dear one and cannot seem to be able to live without him. Their paths intermingle in their search for normalcy and the threesome end up connecting in strange ways.
Movie Review: When Clint Eastwood makes a movie, you got to sit up and watch. For ever since his early directorial venture, Unforgiven, Eastwood has proved himself to be a storyteller of import. He takes up serious issues and tackles them with a rare sensitivity which stands out in stark contrast to his cowboy cult.
If the last time you heard him raising a gun against racial discrimination in The Gran Torino, or applauding the leadership of Nelson Mandela in Invictus, this time you hear him out in hushed undertones as he scripts a soft, sensitive and sentimental story about loss and longing. How must humans face the fears of their own mortality and cope with the death of their loved ones: that's Eastwood's million dollar question in Hereafter. More importantly, he tries to explore that great philosophical dilemma: Is there a hereafter; if so, are humans happy out there....
Eastwood takes up three different stories and smartly blends them together, despite the disparate characters and their diverse settings. Marie, the French journalist travels to London for a book release and ends up meeting the man of her dreams, but only due to the help of a young boy. All the three characters are bound together by a single reality: their encounter with death in different forms. It is the genius of Eastwood which not only manages to seamlessly string the three stories together, but also imbues all of them with depth and gravitas. If Matt Damon lends a refined heroism to his trauma as a psychic who is unable to form normal relationships, then Cecile de France's journey towards self-discovery is equally riveting. But it is the young Mclaren's lonely anguish that enraptures you with its raw poignancy. The boy is simply a delight to watch. A word about the tsunami that strikes in the opening notes of the film: breath-taking!
Matt Damon has recently been voted as Hollywood's most bankable star. Hereafter shows you why. There's much more to the talented Mr Damon than his Bourne identity. And there's a loftiness to Clint Eastwood's cinema too. Watch it.
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