Defending Your Life
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Defending Your Life | |
|---|---|
 The first true story of what happens after you die. |
|
| Directed by | Albert Brooks |
| Produced by | Robert Grand Michael Grillo Herb Nanas |
| Written by | Albert Brooks |
| Starring | Albert Brooks Meryl Streep Rip Torn Lee Grant |
| Music by | Errol Garner Michael Gore |
| Cinematography | Allen Daviau |
| Editing by | David Finfer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 22, 1991 (USA) |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Defending Your Life is a 1991 romantic comedy/fantasy movie about the a man who must justify his life-long lack of assertiveness in life after he dies and arrives in the afterlife. The film was written, directed by and stars Albert Brooks. It also stars Meryl Streep, Rip Torn and Lee Grant. Shirley MacLaine has a cameo appearance as herself, acting as the holographic host of the "Past Lives Pavilion," a reference to her publicly known belief in reincarnation. The movie was filmed entirely in and around Los Angeles, California. Despite its comedic overtones, Defending Your Life contains elements of drama, and allegory.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Brooks plays Daniel Miller, a man who dies in a car accident and is sent to the afterlife. He arrives in a place called Judgment City, a wait station or a kind of purgatory, which is populated by the recently deceased of the western half of the United States, where he is put "on trial for being afraid." As it is explained to Daniel, people from Earth use so little of their brains (3-5%), that they spend most of their lives dealing with their fears. ("When you use more than 5% of your brain, you don't want to be on Earth anymore," explains Bob Diamond, Daniel 's defense attorney, played by Rip Torn.) If the court determines he has conquered his fears he will be sent on to the next phase of existence where he will be able to use more of his brain, and thus be able to experience more of what the universe has to offer. Otherwise, his soul will be reincarnated on Earth (again) to live another life in another attempt at moving past fear and in the process advance up the universe's proverbial food chain. At the end of each life, the life is judged, in a postmodern version of the Christian Bible's account of Saint Peter. The judgment process is presided over by two judges (played by Lillian Lehman and George D. Wallace). Diamond's opponent, Lena Foster (played by Lee Grant), will try to argue that Daniel does not deserve to move onto the next phase, whereas Diamond will argue in opposition. Each will utilize evidence in the form of video footage from various points throughout the defendant's life, which Diamond and his opponent cite to illustrate their case.
During the course of the process, Daniel meets and falls in love with Julia (Meryl Streep), a woman who lived a seemingly perfect life of courage and generosity compared to his. The proceedings do not go well for Daniel, whose life, it seems, Foster powerfully illustrates as having been a series of episodes in which Daniel did not overcome his fears, as well as various other decisions. The final nail in his coffin, it seems, is when Foster plays footage of his previous night with Julia, in which he declines to sleep with her, for what Foster believes is his same lack of courage. It is ruled that Daniel will return to Earth. Meanwhile, Julia is judged worthy to move onto the next phase of existence.
Daniel finds himself strapped in on a bus to return to Earth, when he spots Julia on a different bus across the bus lanes. On a seemingly spur-of-the-moment impulse, he unstraps himself, escapes from the moving bus, and risks injury to stow away on Julia’s. Although he cannot enter it at first, the entire event is being monitored by Daniel’s judges, Foster and Diamond, who convinces the judges that this display has earned Daniel a place on Julia’s bus. They open the doors on Julia’s bus, allowing Daniel in, reuniting him with Julia, as the two move onto the next phase of existence.
[edit] Video releases
Defending Your Life was released on VHS and Laserdisc in early 1992. Both of these editions have since gone out of print. Warner Bros. Home Video released a DVD on April 3, 2001, in a cardboard snap case. It features 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen formatting, and subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, there are no extras on the DVD.
[edit] See also
- What Dreams May Come, a novel by Richard Matheson published in 1978. It was adapted into a film in 1998 starring Robin Williams, and its plot explores similar themes.
[edit] External links
- Defending Your Life at the Internet Movie Database
- Defending Your Life at Rotten Tomatoes
- Defending Your Life (DVD) at Warner Bros.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
| Movies by Albert Brooks |
| Real Life | Modern Romance | Lost in America | Defending Your Life | Mother | The Muse | Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World |
| Concepts of Heaven | |
|---|---|
| Christian | Kingdom of God | Garden of Eden · Paradise | New Jerusalem | Pearly gates |
| Islamic | Jannah | Houri | Sidrat al-Muntaha |
| Mormon | Celestial Kingdom | Spirit world |
| Ancient Greek | Elysium | Empyrean | Hesperides |
| Celtic | Annwn | Tír na nÓg | Mag Mell |
| Norse | Valhalla | Asgard |
| Other Indo-European cultures | Paradise | Olam Haba | Svarga | Aaru | The Summerland | Myth of Er | Fortunate Isles |
| Related concepts | Nirvana | Millennialism | Utopianism | Golden Age | Arcadia |
