Brain Dead and Loving it!

    The afterlife has been at the center of many films in the past. Man's fascination with death and what may come afterward has always been a wealthy fodder for faith and art, and cinema is no exception. Since 1911's L'INFERNO ( Giuseppe De Liguoro , Adolfo Padovan , Francesco Bertolini ) portrayed a chilling vision of Dante's hell, the after-world has been a constant presence in movies, being visited on occasion by Hercules , Santo , or even Robin Williams . Its portrayal has been at times grim, terrifying, institutional or spectacular. Pixar's COCO falls into that latest category. It's probably the most gorgeous depiction of the Great Beyond, with its vibrant bridge of flowing petals linking the world of the living to a stunningly colourful Netherworld. The contrast could have been expressed in the same way the land of the dead was distinguished from the real world by having the latter look desaturated, like in Burton's THE CORPSE BRIDE . But dir...