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Hereafter (film)

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Hereafter
Theatrical release poster
Directed byClint Eastwood
Written byPeter Morgan
Produced byClint Eastwood
Kathleen Kennedy
Robert Lorenz
StarringMatt Damon
Cécile de France
CinematographyTom Stern
Edited byJoel Cox
Gary D. Roach
Music byClint Eastwood
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • September 12, 2010 (2010-09-12) (TIFF)
  • October 22, 2010 (2010-10-22) (United States)
Running time
129 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
French
Budget$50 million[1]
Box office$105.2 million[2]

Hereafter is a 2010 American fantasy disaster drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood, written by Peter Morgan, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways—all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays American factory worker George, who is able to communicate with the dead and who has worked professionally as a clairvoyant, but no longer wants to communicate with the dead; Cécile de France plays French television journalist Marie, who survives a near-death experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; and British schoolboy Marcus (played by Frankie and George McLaren), who loses the person closest to him. Bryce Dallas Howard, Lyndsey Marshal, Jay Mohr, and Thierry Neuvic have supporting roles.

Morgan sold the script on spec to DreamWorks in 2008, but it transferred to Warner Bros. by the time Eastwood (who has a long-standing relationship with Warner Bros.) had signed on to direct in 2009. Principal photography ran from October 2009 to February 2010 on locations in London, San Francisco, Paris, and Hawaii.

Hereafter premiered as a "Special Presentation" at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010. The film was given a limited release on October 15, 2010 and was released across North America on October 22, 2010. Although a box office success, the film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the plot and acting performances, while noting that the movie suffered from a lack of focus on the story.

Plot

On assignment in India, French television journalist Marie Lelay is caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Pulled lifeless from the water, she is resuscitated but left for dead. She gasps back to life after a near death experience, glimpsing a vision of the afterlife. Marie is reunited with her lover Didier as the disaster subsides, and they return to Paris. Marie's experience interferes with her work, and Didier, also her producer, sends her on a leave of absence.

In San Francisco, George Lonegan reluctantly agrees to perform a psychic reading for Christos, a wealthy client of his brother Billy. An actual medium, George abandoned his career as a psychic due to the emotional, often disturbing impact of communicating with the dead. George asks if “June” means anything, which Christos denies; he reveals to Billy that June was his late wife's nurse, with whom he was in love.

In London, 12-year-old twins Jason and Marcus try to prevent their alcoholic, heroin-addicted mother Jackie from losing them to social services. Evading the authorities, Jackie sends Jason to the chemist to pick up her detox prescription, having finally decided to get clean. Escaping from street thugs, Jason is hit by a van and killed. Unable to protect his mother or cope without his brother, Marcus is sent to a foster home.

Marie travels to Switzerland to meet a hospice director, a former skeptic now convinced the afterlife exists. She persuades Marie to write a book on her experience, in hopes the scientific community will accept the reality of life beyond death.

Desperate for a reunion with his brother, Marcus steals money from his foster parents and seeks help to contact Jason, but only encounters frauds. Boarding the London underground at Charing Cross, Jason's cap blows off Marcus’ head. Desperate to find it, Marcus misses his train, which explodes during the 2005 London Bombings.

At a cooking class, George is partnered with Melanie. Hitting it off, they prepare dinner at George's home, and a phone message from Billy forces George to reveal his past as a psychic. Melanie persuades George to contact the spirit of her father, who asks forgiveness for what he did to her as a child. Melanie flees in tears, and does not return to the cooking class.

Having been in talks with a publisher about a biography of François Mitterrand, Marie stuns them with her new manuscript: "Hereafter: A Conspiracy of Silence". The publisher rejects the work, but steers her toward another publisher in London. Marie learns Didier does not intend for her to return to her job, as her public interest in the hereafter has damaged her reputation, and he is having an affair with her replacement.

Laid off from his factory job, George is persuaded by Billy to revive his psychic practice. Changing his mind, he impulsively travels to London, obsessively listening to Derek Jacobi’s audiobooks of Charles Dickens' works. He visits the Charles Dickens Museum and attends Jacobi's live reading at the London Book Fair, where Marie is reading her now published book, Hereafter. When she hands George a signed copy, he has a psychic flash of her near-drowning.

At the event with his foster parents, Marcus spots George, whom he has read about online. George brushes him off and returns to his hotel, but Marcus stands outside until George agrees to perform a reading. Through George, Jason tells Marcus he is happy in the afterlife, and that he knocked off his cap to save Marcus at the train station, and not to fear being alone "because we are one". With this closure, Marcus visits his mother, who is improving in a rehab center.

George leaves an anonymous note for Marie that he believes her book to be true. She decides to join him for lunch; arriving at the café, George sees a vision of them kissing. With their shared glimpses of the hereafter having made them better appreciate life, George and Marie sit together.

Cast

NYFF 2010 "Hereafter" Press Conference
  • Matt Damon as George Lonegan, an American factory worker and "a reluctant psychic [...] who can speak to the dead but prefers not to".[3][4] Damon previously starred in Eastwood's Invictus, and was cast in Hereafter because Eastwood was so impressed by him.[5] The original Hereafter production schedule clashed with Damon's filming commitments to The Adjustment Bureau, so he emailed Eastwood, suggesting that the director recast the role of George for either Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Hayden Christensen or Josh Brolin. Instead, Eastwood altered the filming schedule to accommodate Damon, and the actor was able to complete both films.[6]
  • Cécile de France as Marie Lelay, a French television journalist who survives a tsunami.[3][7]
  • Frankie and George McLaren as Jason and Marcus, twin brothers. At the beginning of the film, Frankie McLaren plays the role of Jason, and George McLaren plays the role of Marcus; then both play Marcus alternately. Jason is killed in a car accident early in the film, and Marcus later attempts to contact him in the afterlife.[8] Eastwood selected the two actors to play the brothers despite their never having acted before because he did not want "child actors who'd been over-instructed in Child Acting 101."[6]
  • Jay Mohr as Billy Lonegan, George's older brother.[9]
  • Bryce Dallas Howard as Melanie, a woman with whom George tries to start a relationship.[6][10]
  • Thierry Neuvic as Didier, Marie's lover. Neuvic was on holiday in Corsica in September 2009 when he was called to audition for a role in the film. His audition, which took place at a Paris hotel, lasted 15 minutes, and he read two scenes for Eastwood. Most of Neuvic's scenes were filmed in Paris.[11]
  • Marthe Keller as a doctor and the director of a hospice in Switzerland who speaks with Marie.
  • Derek Jacobi appears as himself.[12] He reads Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit at the London Book Fair.
  • Lyndsey Marshal as Jackie, Marcus and Jason's mother, a heroin addict.[7]
  • Richard Kind as Christos Andreou, a wealthy client of Billy's who asks Billy for George's psychic assistance to communicate with his late wife.
  • Steven R. Schirripa as Carlos, the cooking instructor
  • Jenifer Lewis[13] as Candace, Christos' neighbor of whom he tells about George's psychic reading; she comes to ask for his assistance in contacting her dead child.
  • Franz Drameh as teenager attacking Jason
  • Mylène Jampanoï[14] as reporter Jasmine
  • Stéphane Freiss as Guillaume Belcher, the boss interviewed by Marie Lelay on TV
  • Laurent Bateau as Marie's TV producer
  • Jean-Yves Berteloot: Michel, Marie's publisher.
  • Niamh Cusack[15] as Angela, Marcus's foster mother
  • George Costigan as Dennis, Marcus's foster father
  • Mathew Baynton as college receptionist
  • Tom Price as the man
  • Céline Sallette as secretary

Production

Peter Morgan wrote the script on spec, and it was bought by DreamWorks in March 2008. The deal was reportedly worth a "low-seven-figure advance".[16] Executive producer Steven Spielberg was initially concerned that the low-key ending to the script would put audiences off the film, so Morgan rewrote it to be grander. However, subsequent drafts restored the original ending.[17] Following its split from Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks retained the script, and began talks with Clint Eastwood to direct. Eastwood was signed on in November 2008.[18] By the time of Matt Damon's casting in 2009, the script was being developed under the supervision of Eastwood's Malpaso Productions for Warner Bros.. Eastwood was attracted to the script because he was keen to direct a supernatural thriller, and liked how Morgan incorporated real-world events into fiction. Eastwood told LA Weekly, "There's a certain charlatan aspect to the hereafter, to those who prey on people's beliefs that there's some afterlife, and mankind doesn't seem to be willing to accept that this is your life and you should do the best you can with it and enjoy it while you’re here, and that'll be enough. There has to be immortality or eternal life and embracing some religious thing. I don't have the answer. Maybe there is a hereafter, but I don't know, so I approach it by not knowing. I just tell the story."[8]

Production was based in the United Kingdom, due to tax incentives and funding from the UK Film Council, though filming locations spanned three countries.[17][19][20] Filming commenced in France on October 19, 2009.[7] A days filming was done at the old Belle Epoque, Le Grand Hôtel-Restaurant du Montenvers, in the village of Planet, near Chamonix. The hotel building was transformed into a Swiss hospice for scenes between Cécile de France and Marthe Keller. A cordon was set up around the area to prevent local residents and paparazzi taking photographs of the set, though the mayor of Chamonix was allowed through for a brief meeting with Eastwood.[14] Production then moved to Paris for four days.[14] On October 21, a short scene between de France and Mylène Jampanoï was filmed in a stairwell inside the France Télévisions building.[21]

In the first week of November, production moved to London for three weeks of filming in locations including Bermondsey and in Walworth. Scenes were also filmed on the Heygate Estate.[22] On November 7, scenes were filmed in Petticoat Lane Market and at the Cafe Le Jardin in Bell Lane.[23] Scenes were also filmed in an auditorium at Red Lion Square and at Camberwell New Cemetery.[24] The room was redressed to represent a fictional Center For Psychic Advancement, which the Marcus character visits.[8] De France filmed the underwater scene in a studio tank at Pinewood Studios.[25] After these scenes were shot, production was halted, as Matt Damon was working on another film.[26]

Filming resumed on January 12, 2010; Eastwood filmed scenes with de France for three days on the Hawaiian island of Maui.[27] On the first day, scenes were filmed in the lobby and guest rooms of the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali.[28] On January 13, scenes were filmed on Front Street in Lahaina. A hundred crew worked on the scenes.[27][29] The location managers were given permission by Lahaina authorities to close a small section of the street in order to film scenes depicting "an unnamed, South Pacific-type outdoor marketplace, complete with outdoor shopping stalls and street vendors".[29] The location manager explained to the Lahaina News, "Front Street's proximity to the water and the architecture of its buildings help supply a look that will require much less transformation towards this goal than other locations which were under consideration".[29] The street was closed off to vehicles on the evening of January 12.[29] The scene—the first scene of the film—depicts Cécile de France's character coming out of her hotel just as a tsunami hits the island. The aftermath of the tsunami was filmed on January 14 at a property in Kapalua.[30]

Production next moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. On January 19, scenes featuring Damon were shot at the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company refinery in Crockett, California, and the exterior of C&H Sugar is seen on screen. The location was not announced until filming had concluded, for fear that large crowds would gather to watch.[31] Filming also took place in Nob Hill, San Francisco and Emeryville. While production was in the Bay Area, it employed 300 local extras and crew members. Production returned to London on January 29 to shoot Damon's final scenes.[14][32] Later in the month, the London Book Fair was recreated inside the Alexandra Palace for a scene featuring George and Marie. Publishers including Random House had their stands built for the three-day shoot, two months before the real London Book Fair took place.[3] Filming wrapped afterwards.[33]

Visual effects work was carried out by Los Angeles-based Scanline VFX. 169 effects were created, the key sequence of which was the tsunami, which features "full CG water shots and CG water extensions to water plates, digital doubles, CG set extensions, matte paintings, digital make-up fx and full CG environments with extensive destruction, from toppling digital palm trees to colliding digital cars".[34] An effect described as the "hereafter effect" also appears, "[giving] the viewer glimpses into the afterlife".[34]

Release

After initial speculation by Variety that the film would be released in December 2010, Warner Bros. announced that Hereafter would go on general release in the United States and Canada on October 22, 2010.[35][36]

A pre-release screening of Hereafter was held on August 10, 2010.[37] The film had its world premiere on September 12, 2010 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.[38][39] The theatrical trailer was attached to The Town and Life as We Know It. Hereafter was also screened on October 10, 2010 as the Closing Night Film of the 48th New York Film Festival.[40] The film was given a limited release on October 15, 2010.[41]

The film premiered in Japan on February 19, 2011.[42] A few days after the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the film was withdrawn from all cinemas in that country, two weeks earlier than originally planned.[43] "Warner Bros. spokesperson Satoru Otani said the film's terrifying tsunami scenes were 'not appropriate' at this time."[43]

Critical reception

Hereafter has received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 47% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 234 reviews, with an average score of 5.73/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Despite a thought-provoking premise and Clint Eastwood's typical flair as director, Hereafter fails to generate much compelling drama, straddling the line between poignant sentimentality and hokey tedium." [44] Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 56/100 based on 41 reviews.[45] Roger Ebert, however, gave the film four stars (out of four), calling it a film that "considers the idea of an afterlife with tenderness, beauty and a gentle tact. I was surprised to find it enthralling."[46]

The film received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but lost to another Warner Bros. film, Inception. It won the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture and was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture.[47]

References

  1. ^ Fritz, Ben (October 21, 2010). "Movie projector: 'Paranormal Activity 2' looking to scare 'Jackass 3-D' out of the top spot". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  2. ^ "Hereafter (2010) – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Random House (undated). "The London Book Fair to Star in Clint Eastwood's Next Film, Hereafter[permanent dead link‍]". Press release. Retrieved on February 1, 2010 (reprinted on Book Southern Africa).[dead link‍]
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (September 17, 2009). "Damon set for Eastwood's 'Hereafter'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on September 18, 2009.
  5. ^ Staff (March 3, 2010). "Matt Damon, accidental hero". Sunday Herald Sun (Herald and Weekly Times). Retrieved on March 3, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c Svetkey, Benjamin (August 20, 2010). "Fall Movie Preview: Hereafter". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc): p. 65.
  7. ^ a b c Dawtrey, Adam (October 20, 2009). "Clint Eastwood plans London shoot for Hereafter". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). Retrieved on November 9, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c Foundas, Scott (December 10, 2009). "Eastwood On The Pitch". LA Weekly (Village Voice Media). Retrieved on January 11, 2010.
  9. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 26, 2010). "Players: Jay Mohr". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on January 27, 2010.
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (December 10, 2009). "'Hereafter' calls Bryce Dallas Howard". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  11. ^ Grasset, Alain (October 9, 2009). "Eastwood vient tourner à Paris" (in French). Le Parisien. Retrieved on November 17, 2009.
  12. ^ Metcalf, Charlotte (January 23, 2010). Spa for the course. The Spectator.
  13. ^ Johnson, Kevin C. (January 1, 2010). "Kinloch native does some voodoo in Disney flick[permanent dead link‍]". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved on January 3, 2010.
  14. ^ a b c d Chandellier, Antoine; Emmanuelle Duffeal (October 20, 2009). "Les confidences de Clint Eastwood sur le tournage Archived 2009-10-21 at the Wayback Machine" (in French). Le Dauphiné Libéré. Retrieved on November 11, 2009.
  15. ^ "Niamh Cusack Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine". Yaketyak. Retrieved on March 5, 2010.
  16. ^ Fleming, Michael (March 27, 2008). "DreamWorks takes 'Hereafter'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  17. ^ a b Boucher Geoff (September 9, 2010). "With 'Hereafter,' Clint Eastwood contemplates what's next". The Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved on September 11, 2010.
  18. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (November 13, 2008). "Eastwood, Spielberg talking thriller". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  19. ^ Turner, Mimi (August 9, 2010). "Eastwood urges rethink over U.K. Film Council". The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media). Retrieved on September 11, 2010.
  20. ^ "Hereafter". UK Film Council. Retrieved on September 11, 2010 (archived at WebCite on September 11, 2010).
  21. ^ Staff (October 22, 2009). "Clint Eastwood : A France Télévisions pour tourner une séquence de son film!" (in French). Premiere (Groupe Lagardere). Retrieved on November 17, 2009.
  22. ^ Clover, Jenny (November 4, 2009). "Clint Eastwood rides into Walworth Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine". South London Today (Tindle Newspapers). Retrieved on November 9, 2009.
  23. ^ Fielding, James (November 8, 2009). "Flirty Harry". Daily Express (Express Newspapers). Retrieved on November 9, 2009.
  24. ^ Film London, Guide to filming in London, November 2010, Camberwell New Cemetery
  25. ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (October 18, 2010). "The hardest part of starring in Clint Eastwood's new supernatural movie" io9 Retrieved on March 24, 2013.
  26. ^ Belloni, Matthew; Stephen Galloway (November 30, 2009). "Clint Eastwood: The elder statesman". The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media). Retrieved on December 5, 2009.
  27. ^ a b Chatenever, Rick (December 8, 2009). "Eastwood to shoot scenes on Maui". The Maui News. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
  28. ^ Tracy, Carla (January 14, 2010). "West side stories...". The Maui News. Retrieved on January 24, 2010.
  29. ^ a b c d Vieth, Mark (December 31, 2009). "Section of Front Street to be closed while movie crew films scene". Lahaina News. Retrieved on January 2, 2010.
  30. ^ Chatenever, Rick (January 12, 2010). "Hereafter's' Maui scenes begin filming". The Maui News. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
  31. ^ Wray, James (January 13, 2010). "In Pictures: 'Clint Eastwood Shoots 'Hereafter' in Hawaii' Archived 2010-04-01 at the Wayback Machine". Monsters and Critics.com. Retrieved on January 14, 2010.
  32. ^ Treadway, Chris (January 27, 2010). "Hollywood comes to Crockett to film Eastwood-Damon flick". Contra Costa Times (Bay Area News Group). Retrieved on January 28, 2010.
  33. ^ Lumenick, Lou (February 14, 2010). "DVD Extra: Clint's history and a bit on his next film Archived 2010-03-02 at the Wayback Machine". New York Post. Retrieved on February 14, 2010.
  34. ^ a b Desowitz, Bill (August 27, 2010). "VFX Fall Preview 2010: 10 Movies to Watch Archived 2010-09-01 at the Wayback Machine". AWN.com (Animation World Network). Retrieved on September 4, 2010.
  35. ^ McNary, Dave (November 9, 2009). "De France joins Damon in 'Hereafter'". Variety (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on November 11, 2009.
  36. ^ Staff (May 5, 2010). "Warner Brothers Sets Hereafter Release for October 22nd". MovieWeb. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
  37. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (August 12, 2010). "Today's showbiz puzzler: Why are so many old folks still so cool?". The Big Picture (Tribune Company). Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
  38. ^ Punter, Jennie (August 17, 2010). "Eastwood, Boyle among new Toronto entries". Variety.com (Reed Business Information). Retrieved on August 17, 2010.
  39. ^ "Hereafter Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine". tiff. Retrieved on August 29, 2010.
  40. ^ Kilday, Gregg (August 16, 2010). "Clint Eastwood's 'Hereafter' to close NYFF". It was declared a Box Office flop.The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media). Retrieved on August 16, 2010.
  41. ^ Ross, Scott (October 15, 2010). "This Week's Movies: Seeing "RED"? Or Will You "Hereafter" Be a "Jackass"? | NBC Philadelphia". NBC Universal. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  42. ^ "Eastwood's latest is a matter of life and death". The Japan Times. February 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  43. ^ a b "Clint Eastwood film Hereafter is pulled from Japan". BBC News. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  44. ^ "Hereafter Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  45. ^ "Hereafter Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  46. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 19, 2010). "Hereafter". suntimes.com. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  47. ^ "9th Annual VES Awards". visual effects society. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
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