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Heaven-Can-Wait Fantasies

Named after the most famous of its movies, this subgenre concerns the adventures of a person who has died and, either in spirit form or by physically coming back, attempts to resolve unfinished issues in his or her life. Here Comes Mr. Jordan was one of the earliest examples of this style, and it was subsequently remade into Heaven Can Wait starring Warren Beatty as a football player who is prematurely whisked away to heaven before his due date. Perhaps one of the most interesting riffs on the theme occurred in A Matter of Life and Death, the brilliant film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger about a man who jumps from a plane during WWII and is unsure whether he has survived or not. An angel begins to appear to him to tell him he has to go to heaven, but he refuses, and a battle ensues for his soul. An immensely popular version of the story (Ghost) starred Patrick Swayze as a ghost who acts through a medium and tries to effect the life of the love he has left behind.

Major Works
Rating
Year
 Title
 
 Director
  9 Stars 1998 After Life   Hirokazu Kore-eda
  9 Stars 1946 A Matter of Life and Death   Michael Powell
  8 Stars 1941 Here Comes Mr. Jordan   Alexander Hall
  7 Stars 1991 Truly, Madly, Deeply   Anthony Minghella
  7 Stars 1978 Heaven Can Wait   Warren Beatty
    7 Stars 1944 A Guy Named Joe   Victor Fleming
  7 Stars 1990 Ghost   Jerry Zucker
  7 Stars 1991 Defending Your Life   Albert Brooks
  7 Stars 1956 Carousel   Henry King
    6 Stars 1944 The Canterville Ghost   Jules Dassin
  6 Stars 1943 Cabin in the Sky   Vincente Minnelli
  5 Stars 1993 Heart and Souls   Ron Underwood
  5 Stars 1946 Angel on My Shoulder   Archie Mayo
    4 Stars 1987 Made in Heaven   Alan Rudolph
  4 Stars 1989 Always   Steven Spielberg
 
 
 
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