Regarding "After Life", I was greatly intrigued by Kore-Eda's synthesis of the documentary with the traditional narrative.  As I stated earlier, Kore-Eda is one of the filmmakers who started out as a documentarian.  Like Kiarostami's films, especially the Earthquake Trilogy ("Where is my Friend's Home?", "And Life Goes on...", and "Through the Olive Trees") and "Close Up", the interview process often reveals more of what is not said, than what is.  On the "After Life" DVD, there is a transcript of Kore-Eda's own personal experience about a family member with Alzheimer's, and his idea on the film was to examine the "relativity" of memory.  For me, "After Life" was intensely reminscent of Alain Resnais films on haunted memory and altered perception, but with a sparer, more accessible approach.  By the way, Kore-Eda is another contender in this category, since he made three documentaries prior to his first feature, "Maborosi".

acquarello
www.filmref.com