Ju-osh wrote yesterday about how he and his girlfriend “watched Darren Aronofsky‘s The Fountain the other night, and we both liked it a lot. But we agreed that the ‘optimal’ (for lack of a better word) time to see this film would be in the days/weeks following the death of a loved one. In that fragile, often illogical, emotional state, the Rorschach-ish imagery and dialogue would mean that much more, and possibly do quite a bit to help provide some glimmer of hope to the bereaved.

“What I was hoping was, would you consider asking your readers to list other movies that they would recommend to someone dealing with a recent death? Having a list like this available in advance would be a hell of a lot easier than having to ask for one when the need is actually there.”

This is going to seem pat or shallow, but the movies people want to see after someone close had died are ones that persuade you that life on planet Earth is just a passage and that other realms and wonders await. Warren Beatty and Buck Henry‘s Heaven Can Wait is a very good film in this respect because it’s all about order, rules, continuance and reincarnation. Worlds without end.

When Julie Christie‘s face slightly stiffens as she’s speaking to Beatty’s “Tom Jarret” on the L.A. Coliseum playing field and she goes, “You’re the quarterback,” every childhood notion you’ve ever considered about fate, rebirth and destiny just uncorks and washes all through.

I always told my kids that right after you die you become a baby again, only you don’t remember the life you’ve just left. If only it were so.