Nine Days

As far as lo-fi high concept films about the after/before-life go, it's no Defending Your Life, but I was a fan of Nine Days. It's softly-spoken and lovely, while being gently abstract and vague in exactly the right ways. Some great economic editing choices throughout. Strong cast doing great work, everyone gets their moment.

it's not what it says, but how poignantly it conveys that conventional perspective on life makes this film as heartbreaking and warm as it is. embracing its medium and finding the neurotic parallel between cinema and life may feel like kind of a pampering gimmick for the film knows what kind of moviegoer will find itself - but it never overplays its hand even when firmly stating what is commonplace praise for being attentive for uniqueness of each moment.

It was too low-key and unassuming to be truly great, but there are definitely rousing moments scattered throughout. The writing is definitely solid, having some nice observations on meaning and existence, but for the most part the performances are also solid but not robust enough to bring the experience to life. Like the idea of this movie more than the execution, but I would still recommend this to a certain audience.

Oda grounds quite a fantastical idea in banal reality with Nine Days, yet still makes a (mostly) compelling film in doing so. Duke and Wong deliver great performances assisted by a good cast. While appreciating moments within life is an overarching theme affirmed at film's end, there are several instances that where humanity feels too bleak and choosing a soul to cope with it makes the film conceptually bleak. Oda's direction is okay, but I felt it lacked dynamism inside the house.

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Boring and slow. Did not finish.

It may read a bit like a story written by a teenager that first thought of combining theology with science fiction. But even if teetering a bit on saccharine high-brow melancholy, it feels real and heartfelt. I _almost_ cringed at the ending monologue but as it built on, it grew in grandeur and was an apt ending to the movie. I enjoyed this movie and it's world-building immensely. Also each character was distinct and delivered their part.

Just watch Koreeda's After Life.

All I know is, Roger Ebert would have loved this film. As a spiritual kin to Koreeda's After Life it positions the metaphysical realm in an ethereal, open space - in Malick land, in the Polish brothers' Northfork. The beyond in this sense opens more questions than it answers, but it is unceasing in its affirmation of life. Big-hearted and human alike, it speaks poetry and makes you glad you can experience these moments through eyes that see.

Sometimes there are no right or wrong answers in life, sometimes right and wrong can shift with the wind, the subjectivity of it all flawed and incapable of being judged. Nine Days is philosophical without preaching, melancholic while also being celebratory. It can be obtuse and repetitive, but it's a rare film that utilizes a unique premise to ponder humanity from all angles.

Why do we live our lives the way we do? Sometimes the meaning of things is self prescribed.