ABSTRACT
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life (1998) and I Wish (2011) supersede simple definitions of documentary and fiction film and depict a transcendence of the soul (literally in the first, figuratively in the second), which involves rituals of passage whereby characters spiritually rise above their existential anxiety. This allows them to see wonder in the world, to recognize their connection to others, and to move forward. This chapter utilizes concepts from the growing philosophical arena of everyday aesthetics, especially those of Yuriko Saito, to analyze transcendence via imagery of the quotidian in ways that depart from Paul Schrader’s well-known theory of transcendental style. Kore-eda’s filmmaking process and his work are about movement and responsiveness to people and moments. In that sense, they are about mono no aware, a profound emotional resonance, as Motoori Norinaga defines it, rather than the concept’s later association primarily with sadness, which several writers identify with Ozu’s work. Kore-eda is a filmmaker of structuring absences, using diverse types of ma to communicate the importance of defamiliarizing the mundane so one can appreciate the ordinary. After Life and I Wish use evocative mises-en-scène, cinematography, and editing to communicate the creative energy that connects all beings and things, a revelation that eclipses the grief of loss and familial disintegration.
