Colourful

A man gets a second chance at life, only to find his new circumstances far stranger than he imagined in this dark comedy from Japan. Makoto (Koki Tanaka) is a 14-year-old boy who died in an accident, leaving his parents terribly distraught. Their grief turns to mingled happiness and confusion when Makoto awakes as if from a nap, and gets up from his slab in the morgue. As it happens, the soul of a recently deceased criminal has been sent back to Earth for another try at life, and he's entered Makoto's body. Makoto's family soon finds that the formerly introverted young man has developed an outgoing personality and a sense of humor, while the man inside Makoto discovers he's ended up in a not-very-functional family; the father regards himself as a failure in both business and parenting, his mother is looking for satisfaction in life through self-improvement, and his brother enjoys wearing women's clothes. The new Makoto also discovers eccentricity isn't limited to his family but has spilled over to his school chums, most notably to a pretty girl who likes designer clothes and doesn't mind having sex for money to pay for them. Colourful received its North American premiere at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival.