Gevry- Hereafter

Now I love Clint Eastwood, don't get me wrong but this film Hereafter was definitely not one of his best. I found the editing in this film to be particular a bit choppy and off kilter. The scene were shot and edited in a fashion that you didn't know how the three main characters George Lonegan (Matt Damon), Marie LeLay (Cecile De France), Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren) as each one are touched by death. The film tries its best to follow each character in a fashion that leads the viewer to wonder how each individual story is connected. My contention with the film, besides its ending which was far from phenomenal, but with the overalltransitions between each characters scenes. The shots in and of themselves are great but the jumping around between time, events, and even countries was a bit jarring.

My favorite sequence in particular when it comes to the editing of the film was actual the first sequence of the film. The opening shot is it of Marie LeLay leaving her hotel room to pick up gifts for her lover's children. In a twist of dramatic irony the shot switched from Ms. LeLay walking in the market to a tsunami crushing into the beach only a few miles away from her. We watch the science unfold as the water crushes into the surrounding hotels, taking with it people, cars, trees, and anything else that gets in his way. By the time we get back to the shot of Ms. LeLay the tsunami is almost upon her. What I love about this sequence of scenes is the fact that it has a fluidity right from the very beginning that extends into the following shots. Even when gruesome events are unfolding the scene just flows as if to match the movement of the water in the scene. Eastwood tends to avoid cutting by moving his camera along with he action lending the scene an unobstructed feel.