An interesting idea, but a very flawed execution. The movie is slow, but that's a positive thing. What isn't, are the stupid actions of the characters just to interact with other humans. It looks some of these actions (like the doll the main character brings to the woman when her 'boyfriend' throws it a few yards away: why doesn't she picks it up herself after the boyfriend leaves?) have just not been thought through.Besides this, the interaction and acting reminded me sometimes of a Buster Keaton-film, but as a poor mans version. Unintentionally funny to the point when it becomes tedious and annoying. I'm a really big fan of post-apocalyptic movies, and although this film tries to do it some other way than just be another Mad Max rip-off, it fails horribly.

I had the chance to see the film "After the Apocalypse" a couple of months ago, and though the feminist in me had some difficulties liking the female character for what I considered a certain lack of character, I was quite taken by the atmosphere and the fact that anyone will understand the movie without having to understand English. There were many moments that made the film absolutely worthwhile for they were filled with a sincere humanity, that made one relate to those rugged remains of society. The scene do not only show the endearing side of us, but also the things we are capable of doing, when we are starving... be it for food or for the touch of another person.

Pretty nothing really happens in the movie. The interaction b/w the actors is very basic due to the context but their acting is basic too. The idea behind the movie related to the director's experience in Australia, where he spent some time as a total stranger trying to discover a world he didn't know and of which he didn't speak the language. But that's it, an interesting idea. Every scene is just stretched to its maximum. The directing was pushed to the limit of wondering if it is done in a pretentious arty way or if the director is just not good. On top of this, another good idea was the sound and music composed for the movie. All sounds were recorded afterward and added on. Another artifact if well directed could have been great, but again it feels pretentious, as the result is not very good.

Yasuaki Nakajima has done a masterful job of creating a knockout film from obviously limited resources, using a brilliantly executed sound design in place of dialogue and a set of locations that are perfect for his story line. His own acting in the film is also first-rate and I especially liked his scenes with the woman, as well as the excellent opening in which he emerges through a heavy metal door into the moaning wind of some earth-shattering disaster. Rather than spell out what has created the apocalypse, Nakajima wisely treats his film as an allegory -- e.g. if this were the aftermath of a nuclear bomb, wouldn't the survivors become ill with radiation poisoning? The film has added relevance at a time when some world leaders once again seem hell-bent on making war, ignoring its historical consequences. Congratulations on a terrific job.