Program Notes

From the Film Vault Blog

Program Notes: Hereafter (2010)

Hereafter movie poster

Director Clint Eastwood and writer Peter Morgan knew they couldn't prove or disprove life after death. So their film Hereafter became a meditation on the human desire to understand what happens when we die.

Program Notes: What Dreams May Come (1998)

What Dreams May Come movie poster

What Dreams May Come centers on the afterlife experience of Christy Nielsen (Robin Williams), a pediatrician who descends to the underworld to retrieve his beloved.

Program Notes: Between Two Worlds (1944)

Between Two Worlds movie poster

Meet Sutton Vane, great-granddaddy of the afterlife drama. His play, Outward Bound, set the template for many of the films featured in the Library’s current film series, "Beyond this Vale of Tears: Hollywood visits the Afterlife."

Program Notes: A Guy Named Joe (1943)

A Guy Named Joe movie poster

In A Guy Named Joe (1943), a dead man’s spirit returns to Earth to watch over the woman he left behind and, eventually, to help guide her to a new love.

Program Notes: Stairway to Heaven (1946)

Stairway to Heaven movie poster

Produced in 1946 at the behest of the British government, Stairway to Heaven from the writing-producing-directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is one of the most satisfying film fantasies ever made.