Watching Pen-ek Ratanaruang's "Last Life in the Universe" feels like something of a cultural exchange designed to propel the direct to a wider, international audience. With Christopher Doyle drafted-in to act as cinematographer and Tadanobu Asano cast as the lead, the switching between Thai, Japanese and English in equal measures in the dialogue and clear cultural differences certainly give the impression of trying to appeal to as large an audience as possible. But, is it greater than the sum of its parts or a confused mish-mash of over-collaboration?
Starting at the end (or do we?!), Kenji (Asano), a Japanese living in Bangkok as a librarian for a cultural centre, is found hanging in his immaculately clean apartment. In fact, he's been trying to commit suicide in his own quiet way for some time. His brother Yukio (Yutaka Matsushige), a yakuza, arrives much to his dismay, bringing trouble with him. Having slept with his boss' daughter, he is hiding at Kenji's, and his supposed friend Takashi (Riki Takeuchi) is there to do what is necessary. Executing him in Kenji's apartment, Kenji reacts and kills Takashi.
With two dead bodies in his clean apartment, he cleans up, hides the bodies and promptly finds a nearby bridge to jump off. As he's about to do so, two Thai sisters nearby start arguing in their car. The younger, Nid (Laila Boonyasak) steps out right in front of oncoming traffic. Stirred out of his suicide attempt, Kenji helps the elder sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), taking her to the hospital.
Not wanting to go home, Kenji tags along with Noi, spending time at her big, but messy house on the outskirts of the city. They spend a slow week together at home, Kenji tidying up; Noi listening to her Japanese language tapes. They bumble along in multiple languages, learning that Noi is to move to Osaka, Kenji's hometown, for work; and that perhaps Yukio wasn't the only dark horse in the family.
Kenji and Noi's lives are polar opposites, but also mirror each other's. Both have recently had their sibling die before them and have a troubled past they aren't letting on to. Both want to escape, and they find a pleasing solution in each other. They are an obvious mismatch, with Kenji an obsessive compulsive, living his life by a tidy sense of order. Noi, however, lives in a mess and her life seemingly lacks direction, hence her wanting to move abroad.
The two, therefore, serve as something of cultural ambassadors, with Kenji a respectful Japanese, following a clear sense of order and Noi more exciting and wild. She buys Kenji sushi, assuming that's what he eats, but he cannot eat fish. The pair, mainly conversing in English, also exchange the little they know of each other's language, warming to each other as time passes. With Takashi Miike joining in the fray late on, there does seem to be an offering of Japanese culture to the Thais and vice versa.
But that would detract from Ratanaruang's work to suggest it is merely a tourism commercial. Here he mixes the whimsical with the fantastical with the violent and deadpan, in a film that offers a lot of different elements to absorb. Part way through, Kenji and Noi briefly take on the role of their siblings, offering a different side to each and subtly reveals there may be more to Kenji and his order than meets the eye.
The ending, Noi now in Osaka, also offers an insight into what transpired in Kenji's mind. A suicidal man, he was brought back to life by Noi and the time they spent together. But, what really happened? Matched with the light soundtrack and Doyle's absorbing cinematography, there is an atmosphere of limbo, yet with something lurking underneath.
"Last Life in the Universe" perhaps isn't greater than the sum of its parts, but it certainly breaks even. A film that is entertaining, funny and thought-provoking, Ratanaruang makes the most of what he had to work with. And Asano and Boonyasak bounce off each other in a holiday romance.
politic1983.home.blog
Starting at the end (or do we?!), Kenji (Asano), a Japanese living in Bangkok as a librarian for a cultural centre, is found hanging in his immaculately clean apartment. In fact, he's been trying to commit suicide in his own quiet way for some time. His brother Yukio (Yutaka Matsushige), a yakuza, arrives much to his dismay, bringing trouble with him. Having slept with his boss' daughter, he is hiding at Kenji's, and his supposed friend Takashi (Riki Takeuchi) is there to do what is necessary. Executing him in Kenji's apartment, Kenji reacts and kills Takashi.
With two dead bodies in his clean apartment, he cleans up, hides the bodies and promptly finds a nearby bridge to jump off. As he's about to do so, two Thai sisters nearby start arguing in their car. The younger, Nid (Laila Boonyasak) steps out right in front of oncoming traffic. Stirred out of his suicide attempt, Kenji helps the elder sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), taking her to the hospital.
Not wanting to go home, Kenji tags along with Noi, spending time at her big, but messy house on the outskirts of the city. They spend a slow week together at home, Kenji tidying up; Noi listening to her Japanese language tapes. They bumble along in multiple languages, learning that Noi is to move to Osaka, Kenji's hometown, for work; and that perhaps Yukio wasn't the only dark horse in the family.
Kenji and Noi's lives are polar opposites, but also mirror each other's. Both have recently had their sibling die before them and have a troubled past they aren't letting on to. Both want to escape, and they find a pleasing solution in each other. They are an obvious mismatch, with Kenji an obsessive compulsive, living his life by a tidy sense of order. Noi, however, lives in a mess and her life seemingly lacks direction, hence her wanting to move abroad.
The two, therefore, serve as something of cultural ambassadors, with Kenji a respectful Japanese, following a clear sense of order and Noi more exciting and wild. She buys Kenji sushi, assuming that's what he eats, but he cannot eat fish. The pair, mainly conversing in English, also exchange the little they know of each other's language, warming to each other as time passes. With Takashi Miike joining in the fray late on, there does seem to be an offering of Japanese culture to the Thais and vice versa.
But that would detract from Ratanaruang's work to suggest it is merely a tourism commercial. Here he mixes the whimsical with the fantastical with the violent and deadpan, in a film that offers a lot of different elements to absorb. Part way through, Kenji and Noi briefly take on the role of their siblings, offering a different side to each and subtly reveals there may be more to Kenji and his order than meets the eye.
The ending, Noi now in Osaka, also offers an insight into what transpired in Kenji's mind. A suicidal man, he was brought back to life by Noi and the time they spent together. But, what really happened? Matched with the light soundtrack and Doyle's absorbing cinematography, there is an atmosphere of limbo, yet with something lurking underneath.
"Last Life in the Universe" perhaps isn't greater than the sum of its parts, but it certainly breaks even. A film that is entertaining, funny and thought-provoking, Ratanaruang makes the most of what he had to work with. And Asano and Boonyasak bounce off each other in a holiday romance.
politic1983.home.blog