Last Life in the Universe (2003) User Reviews

A South East Asian Beauty!!

[crosbie_max · 8/10 · 20 December 2004]

This the first film I've seen by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and without a doubt its one of the most accomplished and satisfying I've seen all year.

Two polar opposite characters - a quiet and meticulous Japanese librarian with a shady past and designs on ending his life (Asano Tadanobu) and a feisty, straight-talking thai female escort (Sinitta Boonyasak) - have one thing in common and not much else it seems. They are both utterly lonely, albeit for different reasons - she is recently bereaved of her sister, he for a reason never fully disclosed is distanced from the world, an introverted outsider with no good reason to go on. Thrown together by a sequence of events (chance or fate?) they take solace from each others presence. From this, lets face it, not original germ grows an enchanting, touching and idiosyncratic movie.One that's not concerned with characterisation, an intricate plot or histrionic's but with how two troubled, contradictory people growcloser and in the process rediscover a reason for being, for going on in the universe. Due to the language barrier (they flit from talking Thai, Japanese and English to understand one another) they may not have meaningful discourse, but here the meaning is hidden behind the formalities, the pedestrian, the everyday.

I'm not going to launch into an extended essay or spew to many superlatives but believe me when I say its a strange delight. Assured, amusing and touching, this multi-lingual film is replete with a dry wit, a surreal element that leaves a lot to interpretation and a deft ability to prick the emotions. There are laudable performances from the two central characters, and a third from Christopher Doyle's shifting oblique camera-work and composition. And despite its clear East Asian cinematic influences (in tone it reminds me of Kitano's Dolls - the lingering pace and melancholy signature theme music– and it features a yakuza based subplot) Last Life evokes modern day Thailand in all its chaotic ramshackle splendour brilliantly.

Unusual movie, but quite interesting...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 13 September 2012]

"Last Life in the Universe" was a rather unique and different movie experience. And it was a great combination of Thai and Japanese movie styles. Although the storyline in the movie is barely there, the movie leaves you with a very lasting impression and also with things to think about.

The story in "Last Life in the Universe" is about Kenji (played by Tadanobu Asano), a suicidal Japanese librarian in Thailand, who happens to meet Noi (played by Sinitta Boonyasak), a pot-smoking carefree Thai lady. The two sad existences end up becoming each others saviors. Taking refuge in Noi's dirty, beach-side home, Kenji starts to live again and emotions are brewing between the two strangers.

Although throughout the movie, the story is jumpy and skittish, there is a red line through it all. However, the movie is not really story-driven as much as it is emotion-driven, and that is what makes the movie so unique. Despite being fairly slow moving, the movie did deliver good entertainment and leaves you with something to think about.

And there was a great cameo appearance by Takashi Miike, renowned Japanese movie director, towards the end of the movie. Look for that one, because it was quite cool. The movie didn't have that big a cast list, but it still worked out quite well, because the two lead parts were really carrying the movie nicely and elegantly.

There are some pretty interesting visuals throughout the movie, which helps to add to the unique feel the movie has.

"Last Life in the Universe" is a must watch movie if you enjoy Thai and/or Japanese cinema. Just bear in mind that it is not an action movie, nor is it an average movie that you'd other wise see from Thailand or Japan. "Last Life in the Universe" is something extraordinary and unique.

Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang celebrates the cultural diversity of the Asian people.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 6/10 · 6 February 2009]

The lives of a crazy Japanese man and an equally irresponsible Thai woman.This is not a common theme of many Asian films.But what is really good about Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang's film "Last Life In The Universe" is that he shows us some of the most precious moments of life when two wacky people meet and get to like each other despite all their differences.Quietness is one of the key aspects of this film.The entire film is shot as a quiet story where two losers attempt to make sense of their lives.This is the biggest reason why there is no unnecessary sound.The role of Thai girl is played by charming Sinitta Boonyasak.She does ample justice to her role of a wacky Thai girl by using all the tricks in her bag to make sense of her life and also that of her Japanese boyfriend.This film is a major star vehicle for famous Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu who plays his role of a lost librarian with utmost care.He is one of the few Asian actors capable of giving subdued performances which are on par with some of the best acting performances in the world.I saw this film at Osian Cinefan Film Festival of Asian cinema at New Delhi.

I do like a suicidal man with an ordered wardrobe.

[Two_Pieces_of_Christina · 9/10 · 5 June 2006]

Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) is a depressed, introverted Japanese man living in Bangkok with suicidal fantasies. He is not so simple as his quiet demeanour hopes to portray. His past is complicated and therefore he controls his present state with an OCD-repressed lifestyle. His clothes are colour co-ordinated, his socks ironed and folded, and his books are stacked so neatly there's an urge to reach into the TV and throw them around the room just to set the sterile organisation off-kilter.

The dream-like unreality of Kenji is punctuated by his meeting of Nid (Laila Boonyasak) and her subsequent departure. Her sister Noi (played by Nid's real-life sister, Sinitta Boonyasak) is suddenly in his life, and her home serves as an escape for a disturbing event that happens in Kenji's apartment. Their personalities are as contradictory as they are complimentary - she is as messy as he is organised, as free as he is controlled. He brings her life into order and she brings his into disarray.

The developing romance between the two is difficult to categorise. Kenji imagines on occasion that Noi has become Nid; it's almost as if Noi is the next best thing and he doesn't appreciate her for herself. This is however usurped by the ending, of which I won't give away. That has to be down to individual interpretation and perhaps can't be seen definitively anyway.

Director and co-writer Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's portrayal of a Japanese man and Thai woman's blossoming relationship is illustrated with their stilted dialogue - it veers from Thai, to Japanese, to halting English. Their mis-understandings of language are juxtaposed with their understandings of each other. There is nothing so clear as body language and this film relies heavily on the physicality of the two leads, both of whom give near-flawless performances. Asano in particular cannot be helped being taken to the viewers' heart; it's obvious here why he has such a high status in Japan. Boonyasak is not so sympathetic, but she is perhaps not meant to be, and she serves her purpose well.

There's some brilliant comic moments peppered throughout, but the poignant moments counter-balance these well. The ending gives some insight into Kenji's past but must be viewed more than once to appreciate. This is not a simple or straight-forward film, but nor is it complicated or pretentious.

Last Life in the Universe is difficult to sum up without mentioning its imagery, of which you have to see for yourself to appreciate, or describing it with the words 'beautiful' and 'subtle' - I almost managed it.

Best Meet "Cute"/Opposites Attract Film in Years

[noralee · 11 August 2004]

"Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan)" is a testimonial to opening up films to new voices around the world, as Thai director/co-writer Pen-Ek Ratanaruang completely re-invents the worn-out Hollywood genre of opposites meeting cute and attracting (viz. "Laws of Attraction" or "Forces of Nature") that even the French could barely resuscitate in "Jet Lag (Décalage horaire)."

If I hadn't read a promotional flyer after the movie identifying the star Tadanobu Asano as also having been in "Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman" I wouldn't have realized that the charismatic ronin there was the still, isolated, seriously depressed obsessive-compulsive here, but now I see why he's a big star in Japan and I will catch up on his films (oh, he's married to a pop star, directing her music videos, and in his own rock band, too, but I digress, sigh).

"Kenji" meets up with "Noi" a live wire, profane wreck of a Thai escort in tragic-comic circumstances brought on by their siblings that insert startling, balletic violence into the dream-like cinematography by Australian Christopher Doyle, reinforced by the mesmerizing music of Hualongpong Riddim.

But it took me as a monolingual American awhile to figure out that their communication difficulties were based on their limited language commonality as I couldn't tell when a character was speaking in Thai or Japanese (perhaps the annoying white-on-white subtitles could have included some coded indicators) until they ended up struggling in pidgin English. I'm sure I missed many other cultural clues (though I did pick up the telltale yakuza back tattoos that complicate their odd idyll outside Bangkok).

They contradict each other's expectations- he's allergic to sushi, she's surrounded in Western accoutrements; he's mysteriously left Japan, she's determined to emigrate there, and so on.

Slapsticky comedy and a sweet children's book continually lull us to the dangers they trip over. The lovely magic realism leaves the resolution up to interpretation, but I don't think I've ever seen such a moving courtship over the use of an ashtray or as sexy a hopeful line as "Tomorrow we'll do the laundry."

This has to be the offbeat romance of the year.

The healing power of love

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 4 April 2005]

In the offbeat comedy/drama Last Life in the Universe by Pen-Ek Ratananaruang, a strange suicidal Japanese librarian develops a relationship with a young Thai woman who has just experienced a personal tragedy. Neither can speak the other's language but both communicate as best they can in broken English, their language barrier a metaphor for the cultural and emotional distance between them. Beautifully photographed by Hong-Kong-based cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Last Life is a slow-paced, meditative film about loss and loneliness and the power of love to heal. The film, though dark in places, has a playfully surreal touch that leaves considerable doubt as to whether events take place in real life or in the mind of the characters.

Alienated from his surroundings, Kenji, brilliantly portrayed by Tadanobu Asano (Zatoichi, Ichi The Killer), spends his time between his job at the Japanese Cultural Center and his apartment where he lives with his brother, a Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) member. He is compulsive about order and cleanliness and his house is neatly arranged with books and clothes systematically piled and labeled. Kenji is fascinated with suicide, not because of money problems, a failed relationship, or an unsatisfying job, but simply because he thinks dying would be very relaxing. "Just close your eyes", he muses, "and go to sleep then wake up in another life". His suicide note says simply, "this is bliss". Whenever he starts to follow through, however, he is interrupted at a crucial moment by a telephone, doorbell, or other intrusion.

When another gang member kills his brother in his apartment and Kenji kills the gunman in self-defense, he matter-of-factly leaves his apartment and begins to wander the streets of Bangkok, ending up poised on the railing of a bridge. As he is about to jump, he is distracted by the sight of Nid (Laila Boonyasaki), a Thai bar girl that he works with at the library, being struck down by a hit and run driver right in front of him and her sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasaki). Seeking to escape from his bullet-ridden apartment that has defied his compulsion for order, Kenji asks to go with Noi to her country home, To his dismay, he finds her house disheveled and filthy with dishes scattered on the sofa, floors, everywhere but the kitchen sink.

The two make attempts to get to know each other but, because of the language barriers, there are long pauses between questions and answers. What little conversation there is takes place with a background drone of a Japanese language tape that, along with the softly beautiful music of Hua-Lampong Riddim, creates a soothing dreamlike state. As the relationship between Kenji and Noi becomes warmer, Doyle deepens the colors in the house and Pen-Ek stimulates our senses by showing the house cleaning itself as books fly onto shelves and papers flutter through the air to their resting place. When Noi tells him that she is planning to move to Osaka the following week, Kenji asks with deadpan humor to remain at her house because his apartment smells bad as a result of having two dead bodies inside.

Their relationship is complicated by angry phone calls from her boyfriend/pimp and in one sequence, Kenji, showing a departure from his usual inertness, comes to her rescue when he physically assaults her. Meanwhile, we learn that he is being pursued by Yakuzas himself (there are hints that Kenji is hiding in Bangkok to escape his own Yakuza past) and the two unlikely friends must cling to each other more desperately out of fear and isolation. Last Life in the Universe, while punctuated with Kitano-like outbursts of violence, has an atmosphere of spiritual calm that works to reduce the significance of things and allows us simply to be with each moment and observe the flow. Though the ambiguous ending leaves room for interpretation about the durability of their connection, the characters come a long way from thoughts of death to dealing with plans for living. With its mixture of black comedy and romantic drama, Last Life in the Universe leaves us with a quiet celebration of the unpredictable wonder of life.

Tragedy or comedy?

[stensson · 7/10 · 6 March 2004]

The male hero is a quiet suicidal librarian. But is he also an active (?) member of the yakuza? The female hero is a prostitute. Or is she just a waitress? Does she know magic, can she turn a driving licence from female to male version? Does the librarian die or does he make others die?

Nothing is certain here, but anyway most things takes part in "this" world (or this Thailand) anyway. The loving (?) couple might be found one by one in reality, but it's more uncertain if they would be a couple there. Or love at all. Mostly this is a black comedy, told with compassion and sympathy. But you will for a long time think about whether the end was happy or not.

Well told by director Pen-ek Ratanaruang. A story from a Thailand you don't know much about.

Just hang with this one

[wisekwai · 10/10 · 7 August 2003]

Kenji, a young Japanese living in Bangkok, is no ordinary man. He's a neat freak, whose obsessive compulsive traits are revealed in his book-filled apartment, from the colour-coordinated stacks of socks in his closet to the neat row of clean plates drying by the spotless kitchen sink.

His big kick though, is suicide, which is how you first meet him, hanging by his neck from a noose. It's only a possible reality, as is most of what happens in this darkly surreal romantic comedy.

Kenji comes close to offing himself in several various ways, but is always interrupted by a noisy buzzer, bell or other alarm. He has an even darker side that is slowly revealed in a humourously warm, low-key manner.

And as more is revealed, a small cast of progressively sleazier characters are paraded by for the audience's enjoyment. There's a Thai gangster ex-boyfriend who's overwhelming, but a trio of yakuza (think Three Stooges) steals the show.

Kenji's obsessive compulsive traits are put to productive use as a librarian at the Japan Cultural Centre. It's there where a uniformed schoolgirl captures his attention. But she vanishes, almost before his very eyes.

She is seen later, at the culmination of a chain of events that brings Kenji together with the girl's older sister Noi. Other synopsis will reveal how, but I feel it's best you don't know much about this film before you watch it.

Anyway, the action is brief and tragic - as is all the action in this film. There's a little bit of gunplay - sudden and violent, yet so subtle, you wonder if youÕre dreaming.

Driving a beat-up old white Volkswagen Beetle convertible (a car that is just as much a character as the actors), the pair drive out to Noi's rundown seaside home. There, Kenji sees that Noi is everything that he isn't. There are mounds of dirty dishes everywhere. Books and magazines are strewn all over. The goldfish is floating dead, upside down in the aquarium. She's a slob, too, in contrast to Kenji's button-down appearance. She's also a pothead.

The mess is captured with moody realism by Hero cinematographer Christopher Doyle, in much the same manner he brought a smouldering feel to Wong Kar-waiÕs In the Mood for Love. Even the flotsam and jetsam washing up at the beach evokes some emotions.

Just as Kenji is out of the ordinary, so is the film. For a Thai film, there's hardly any Thai spoken. Most of the dialogue is in Japanese, and Kenji and Koi converse in English (as well as some Japanese as, by a mind-boggling twist of coincidence, she is moving to Japan).

And though it has a high-profile marketing campaign in Thailand, featuring the image of a man hanging in a noose, as well as the tail end of a VW Bug in some theatre lobbies, this film is anything but slick - a welcome break from this summer's no-brainer franchise flicks.

The timeline jumps around at various points causing some confusion, but this is a good thing, for viewers who stick with it.

Slow with a peculiar quality

[Enchorde · 6/10 · 2 September 2007]

Recap: Kenji is a Japanese man living in Bangkok. He's quiet and withdrawn, working as a librarian and books seem to be his whole life. His pedantically organized home is full of them. However, Kenji is also obsessed with suicide, and repeatedly tries/plans to kill himself, to escape his loneliness. Something seems to turn up and interrupt him every time though. Noi is the opposite. She is a prostitute and her life is more or less in constant chaos, full of violence, drugs and meaningless/destructive relationships. Under odd circumstances they meet and Kenji ends up moving in with Noi, and later starts to get to know her. Together they form an odd pair under pressure from outside forces but find strength in each other.

Comments: This is a very odd movie, but with a peculiar quality that is hard to define. In contrast to most thrillers out of the west (i.e Europa, USA) that puts as much action and violence as it can this Asian production does the opposite. On all levels. This is a very slow movie, but do not make the mistake and put that equal to bad. There is not much action or violence, and that there is is mostly out of picture. The shy and pedantic Kenji does not say much at all, in contrast to Noi that speaks much. But with only one part running the dialog it is slow and intentionally limping. The slowness also is represented in the film itself, in a cinematographic (is that a real word or just something I just thought should be? anyway, I hope you understand what I mean) way. At first I thought the camera never moved at all, the director choosing to cut instead to change point of view. But this is not entirely true, in fact the camera and view changes in almost every scene. But it is very slow and very little, and hardly noticeable. So the camera becomes a very static point, in line with the story that moves slow as well.

Still there is some peculiar kind of quality that I am having a hard time putting my finger on it. There is humor, in an almost wordless way, but nonetheless, it is there. There is the opposite characters and their fate. And there is the looming end that because of the circumstances must come, in one way or another. So the movie never became dull, but instead gave time and room for thought. It also is a visually beautiful movie with clashes between Kenji's pedantic living and Noi's chaos. Especially there is one scene when Noi is having a drug-induced hallucination of Kenji's effect on her life and house. Beautiful! This is a movie for those who want to see something different, something else. Not another blockbuster.

6/10

Pen-Ek has done it again!

[top_krub · 10/10 · 19 October 2003]

And I thought Mon-Rak Transistor was a masterpiece...

Last life in the Universe, or "Reung Rak Noi Nid Mahasarl", is problaby one of the best films made by one of the best Thai directors, Mr. Pen-Ek Rattanareung. I'll not waste time talking about this movie's sypnosis, but I'll just give some patricular reasons why this is a must-see Thai movie. First of all, this movie barely has a plot. It's all about emotions. Every elements you see in this film is... alive. They all have reasons for their existance. While a camera stays still for most of the time, lets you feel the very feeling of certain scene. Thanks, Chris. Secondly, the sotry is a love story, which doesn't seem so ordinary, but very ordinary itself. It's just natural. That's the way people who don't know each other talk, and even in a different language. You simply beleive they are who they are, there was no acting no pretending. It was just soooo natural. Last, because the subject matter is very precise, and sometimes hard to understand, you simply don't have to understand it. I mean, some parts of movie are very confusing, just ignore it. Try to absorb the moods and feelings this movie has to offer... You'll just feel really good after walking out of the theater. No other Thai movies are like this one. Pen-Ek himslef said that in previous movies, it seemed to him that he tried to tell everything too much, too straight. This film certainly doesn't do that, and it certainly is his masterpiece for me.

Puzzling Motivations Move Characters to Behave Unpredictably--An Unusual Journey

[museumofdave · 7/10 · 30 March 2013]

What a sly, subversive film this is, as director Ratanaruang mixes several genres, adding his own quiet powers of observation to upend the viewer's expectations! The first thing that should be said is that very little is spelled out for the viewer, so that if the viewer comes to the film expecting a conventional meet-cute love story, or a Yakuza shoot-out, or a film with a conventional beginning, middle and end--well, look for something else--you're with the wrong movie.

As it follows an obsessive neat-freak about to commit suicide to his introduction to the girl he will come to love in spite of the fact she's an unbelievably messy housekeeper with a checkered past, the film veers from oddly comic scenes of death to quietly contemplative meditations while decisions are being made. This is a complex film with gorgeously lush photography and naturalistic acting, but if you want easy entertainment--this ain't it--the director makes the viewer work as time and space are frequently mixed. This film is an entertaining challenge; if you like puzzles, you'll likely be in movie heaven!

Masterpiece

[zetes · 10/10 · 21 February 2005]

I've seen the plot before, at least in some fashion. A man and a woman meet under tragic (or tragicomic) circumstances. They are complete opposites, but begin an unconventional, semi-romantic relationship. It took me the whole movie to think of where I had seen it, but I did finally come up with a title (Monster's Ball). So I've seen the plot before. It's been done before. But it hasn't been done too often, and I tend to like stories like this. Besides, it's all in the way it's done, and, man, is this done right. Tadanobu Asano, best known as the masochistic villain Kakihara of Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer, plays a withdrawn Japanese man living for unspecified reasons in Thailand. He works in a library and the walls of his meticulously organized apartment are lined with stacks of books. Through a couple of events, which are too good to spoil, he meets with polar opposite Sinitta Boonyasak, a Thai girl who works dressed up as a Japanese schoolgirl, and is probably something of a prostitute. Asano moves in with the girl and there is a connection (in that order). This is a subtle film that flows like a gentle brook. Christopher Doyle, easily the best cinematographer working today, lends his impeccable style to the picture (director Ratanaruang says many kind words about him in a 20 minute interview on the DVD), and the music, by Hualongpong Riddim, is simply amazing. Takashi Miike himself appears late in the film in an amusing role, and he's given the film's best line. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's direction is truly impressive, and his attention to detail is particularly worth praising. It's a wonderful film, one that will live with me a long time.

movieinthepark.blogspot.com

[nunoaraujoduarte · 6/10 · 28 September 2011]

Kenji (Tadanobu Asano), a thirty-something year-old Japanese librarian living in Thailand, who doens't suffer from obsessive–compulsive disorder but he surely exaggerates about cleaning or packing. Anyway, has a complicated brother whose scams and irresponsible acts leave Kenji's house with two dead bodies in it, his brother's and the assassin's. For the record, there's a scene where we see Kenji spying on a girl in a uniform, Nid (Laila Boonyasak), who works on the bar where we previously watch Kinji's brother. Kenji's got to run. Having already tried to kill himself before, he heads to a bridge and while preparing to jump, as he looks back a running over takes place right behind him. Nid was the victim He immediately helps the injured young woman and ends up requesting shelter to the girl who'd been making company to Nid, her sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak). Nid didn't survive. The story is not confusing at all, told in this way. The problem is that this isn't told to you very clearly. And from this point, scenes come up where Nid and Noi alternate. Like the Asian cinema has been showing, the director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang explores both loneliness and love. Eventually, the notion of the love being explored diverges from the normal, now more related to family or friendship, but still, very inspiring and audacious. The biggest problem with this one, is that it gets incredibly boring at certain points, making it quite uncomfortable to make it until the end, 6/10

Third Time Is Not A Charm

[ebossert · 5/10 · 18 March 2007]

I really enjoy a good art-house romance. The Road Home, In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express, White Valentine, Beyond Our Ken, and 3-Iron were all very enjoyable. I've seen Last Life In the Universe (LLITU) now three times. I keep hearing all sorts of excellent references to this film, so I keep watching it to see if I'm missing anything. It's now safe to say that I'm not. It's not a bad film, but it's not a great one either. In a nutshell, it's a well-made movie that stumbles in both its conceptual and relationship development.

The theme of suicide is important in LLITU, but I was never convinced that Kenji was suicidal. His friend stops by his apartment, sees the noose, and says "suicide again?", inferring that Kenji keeps implying that he wants to kill himself, but lacks any sort of seriousness about it. His roommate then pulls the noose and it easily slips away from its foundation, thus implying that Kenji is so devoid of resolve that he fails to tie the rope tightly to the ceiling. Later on, the yakuza points a gun at him and he cowers backward, thus implying that he is, in fact, afraid to die. All of this contradicts the claim that Kenji was somehow suicidal before he meets Noi. In my opinion, this prevents LLITU from establishing even the slightest dramatic weight from the theme of suicide. The concept itself becomes superfluous and useless.

The same is true to a lesser extent with Noi's guilt over her sister's death. One minute she's crying over it, the next minute she admits that she thinks of her sister "sometimes", even though she died only a few days earlier. She also refuses to return to the hospital and witness her sister's burial/cremation. These events mitigate some of the impact of guilt on Noi's character. Basically, she was "getting over it" too quickly.

Some may feel that I am nitpicking, and that's fine. Where this film truly stumbles is in the romantic development between the two leads. There is a patent lack of important narrative. This is not a problem, in and of itself, if the film is capable of establishing non-narrative maturity (i.e., Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron). This is not easy to accomplish, however, and requires particularly clever scriptwriting to provide interesting events and scenarios that allow the characters to use physical interaction and subtle, non-verbal communication. No such memorable events are forthcoming here. Kenji cleans Noi's house, hits her boyfriend, then they go out for a generic night on the town. That's about it.

If the filmmakers wish to convince me that two people could somehow develop a deep caring for one another over a single weekend, they had better provide some compelling moments with significant emotional/dramatic weight. Lots of uninteresting, everyday events fail to do the job. Relationship development is not earned by characters washing dishes, doing laundry, or strolling around an empty house. Sure, it's all very pretty, very slow, and distinctively "art house", but it's also very tiresome, and frankly a waste of time.

I'm not sure exactly how people fall in love – if love exists at all in this world – but I sure as hell know that it requires something special. This film trivializes it and turns it into something so inconsequential and easy to obtain that it effectively becomes a meaningless, petty incident. I've personally been searching my entire life for someone to care for. It's nice to know that I can simply invite a girl to hang out for the weekend and do my laundry. I'll be married by the end of the month.

LLITU is not horrible by any means. The acting is solid, the women are sexy, and the atmosphere is calm and effective, but I honestly cannot think of one truly memorable scene in this 104-minute film. Needless to say, it left no emotional aftereffects. It ended, I put the DVD back in its case, wrote this review, and forgot about it instantly. Although something tells me that I'll be constantly reminded of its "greatness" by its many loyal fans.

(On a side note, here again we have another art-house film attempting to convey the concept of loneliness, ala Tsai Ming-liang. While this film is not nearly as bad as Tsai's films, it still ultimately fails to say much of anything or contribute any depth or insight to the concept of loneliness, and only provides a very vague, superficial treatment of an implicitly interesting topic. Kiyoshi Kurosawa should again be commended here for creating a deliberately-paced yet interesting exposition on loneliness in his film Kairo. It is interesting to note that his horror film accomplishes more maturity and conceptual development than art-house dramas that attempt the same.)

Wow...

[Gigabyte_1907 · 9/10 · 24 August 2003]

The last 3 or 4 movies that I've seen lately made me fall asleep in the over air-conditioned, too comfortable theatres in Bangkok, which sometimes provide a blanket and pillow in a lazy-boy chair in the high-class places (at a surprisingly low price). But last night, I didn't even blink my eyes once while watching this wonderful movie. I was impressed... It was beautiful from the very start until the end.

This movie was magic... It didn't pretend to be perfect, and it's not, but it works so much on your feelings that you go out from it with mixed feelings. The jokes are very funny (for example the morning after the green papaya salad), the dramas are tear jerking, and you have to watch every details because there's a lot to watch. Believe me, it won't get you bored or sleepy, it's pure pleasure from the start until the end, no boring parts promise!

I hope that this movie will get more attention, I do recommend it to all. It's not an easy of family movie, some rough scenes, but go see it... I will go see it again, and I will buy the official DVD when it's available, not the pirated copy found in some markets... 4/5...

A masterpiece

[NicolasC · 10/10 · 18 September 2004]

(Only very minor spoilers in these comments.)

First, as a disclaimer, I have to point out that I am a self-proclaimed white trash boy who usually isn't too much into ''cerebral'' movies. Memento did not do anything for me, for instance, and I sometimes have trouble with the relatively slow pace that can be found in some Asian movies.

Well, Last Life in the Universe is slow, the narrative is non-linear, and there is not much dialogue. Yet, I loved every minute of it. I guess the best analogy I can come up with is that it is as if Lost in Translation had met Pulp Fiction. However, despite the fact I loved both of these movies, it does not do Last Life in the Universe justice. This movie is much better than that.

It is touching, entertaining, and even hilarious at times. Sure, the complete absence of linearity will turn some people off (e.g., the introductory credits start rolling over one hour into the movie), and I expect a few users will give it a 1. But, if you can hold on, and wait until the director has decided to give you all the pieces of the puzzle, you won't be disappointed. The ending is one of the best that I have seen in quite a while. By the way, the non-linearity completely makes sense by the end of the movie; presenting it as a set of different stories sheds a light on the many different facets of the personalities of the main characters, thereby giving them even more depth, and is probably the best way of unravelling the plot.

As an added bonus, the acting is stellar. Most of the movie is silent because of the language barrier between the two main protagonists, and it's refreshing to see some actors that can act (and boy, can they!) without having to speak. Besides, the lead actress is gorgeous.

A very serious contender for the best movie I have seen this year, and I have seen many more than I am willing to admit.

Get busy living...

[CosmoJones · 23 June 2006]

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's gently observed tale of the love that develops between a suicidal Japanese librarian and a streetwise Thai woman who meet under tragic circumstances is hypnotically absorbing. Shot in a lyrical and languid style by Christopher Doyle, who abandons his trademark vivid and hyper-real use of colour, the piece has been given a muted, naturalistic look. This suits the subdued tone and measured pace of the film which focuses on emotion rather than action. Ratanaruang, describes Last Life in the Universe as his most tender film, and this is as good a word as any to describe the relationship of Tadanobu Asano's Kenji, and Sinitta Boonyasak's Noi.

After unhappy fate has brought them together Noi and Kenji find sanctuary in each other. Kenji, deeply introspective, disconnected from reality, and suicidal, is literally saved from himself by Noi, whose joie de vivre, though dampened by grief, is infectious. Noi brings energy, colour, and most importantly life, to Kenji's dull and organised universe. Kenji brings a sense of order and balance to Noi's chaotic life, and his tranquil non-intrusive presence helps Noi to cope with her grief and the resulting sense of loneliness. As Ratanaruang claims, it is very tenderly done, and this is translated into the performance of both leads.

Asano, hugely famous in Japan for playing offbeat characters, brings a restrained sense of wonder to Kenji whose growing appetite for life is communicated in simple gestures such as a draw on a cigarette, or a ruffle of his hair. Boonyasak, in what is a very difficult first role, does exceptionally well to convince as a woman who though filled with grief has an irrepressible lust for life. Part of what fascinates the audience about both characters is the ambiguity that surrounds them. They are both without a history, especially Kenji who appears to have been linked to the Yakuza, and though it is never made clear why he is in Thailand there is an implication that he may have a murky past in Japan.

Reduced to the basics then Last Life in the Universe is a simple love story with very familiar themes; opposites attract, and the redemptive power of love. That this well-trodden path is followed again here takes nothing away from the film however, as though the story unfolds slowly it is well paced, well acted, and sensuously shot. The only potential weakness was Ratanaruang's inclusion of the comic gangster element (actor/director Takashi Miike plays a mob boss bent on revenge) which could very easily have been Last Life in the Universe's Achilles' heel, upsetting the tone and balance. As it turns out the Yakuza scenes work very well. In the context of the story Miike, and his henchmen do not seem out of place, and the absurd humour that they inject provides a necessary distraction from the studied inaction of Kenji and Noi. Overall then the elements combine to make Last Life in the Universe an unmissable film.

Slow paced love story that is a bit stretched out

[jimniexperience · 6/10 · 2 April 2018]

Librarian with gangster affiliations whom is obsessed with suicide becomes infatuated with a young Thai girl after bonding over her sister's car accident .

Slow paced storytelling, even the love connection is messy. Some may praise cinematography for this is average for Christopher Doyle .. Takashi Miike makes a cameo

Whimsical

[wanchope · 9/10 · 24 January 2005]

there's something about this movie that makes me just want to break out in a big smile, and it has nothing to do with my thinking the lead actress is really pretty. the visual composition of this movie as with most movies by Christopher Doyle is amazing. you could stop the movie at any point and it would make an award winning photograph. Tadanobu Asano also displays in this movie why he is one of my favourite actors. his performances in this movie, ichi the killer and zatoichi should rate him as one of the best actors outside of Hollywood(not that that makes him worse than anyone there, and he should stay out of Hollywood but thats a totally different subject for another day). the film itself has a pretty simple storyline, but follows a rather similar tone to another movie that was released last year, lost in translation. personally i felt this movie was superior because it seemed less contrived and pretentious. plus the extra little storyline with the yakuza is fall-off-your-chair funny. with hints of wong kar wai this is a very refreshing movie that should help get back your faith that good movies can still be made on small budgets.

Not really bliss, but it's alright

[DoubtfulHenry · 7/10 · 6 May 2009]

Last Life in the Universe, a story about a suicidal librarian who moves in with a pot smoking woman, i'm sure you've already read the synopsis of the film.

I liked the story quite a bit, it held my interest for the most part. It had some unexpected twists and turns. The imagery was especially beautiful. A lot of cool shots and directing concepts drew me strongly. The chemistry between Kenji and Noi was realistic and charming. The cute quips they fired back and forth put a grin on my face.

However, the pace was slower than it needed to be i felt. It's hard to appreciate good imagery and dialogue when the shots linger too long. The movie could have been about 15 minutes shorter of the director had edited down some of the shots go on too long after we get the gist of it.

7/10 heartfelt and intriguing, but let's not take so long about it please?

Beautiful and pensive film about life and death.

[danielhsf · 10/10 · 11 February 2005]

Perhaps I was in a different state of mind when I first saw this movie, but after revisiting it on DVD, it didn't make any more sense than it first did when I saw it, but I came out feeling so much more satisfied than most of the films I saw this year. It works best as a DVD movie for me I guess, especially on lonely nights where thoughts overrun and sleep is scarce, the calming glow of the movie is especially comforting and soothing.

The music and photography felt like a balm to me, but that is not all that made me re-love this film. The music sounds to me like waves on the ears, making me think, for lack of a better analogy, of a person in a placid swimming pool, where all is calm. Yet when you submerge yourself underwater and when you come back up again, the experience is so different you seem to have emerged into a different world. Where underwater the outside world is entirely muffled out, only traces of what you can usually hear seep into our ears, the peaceful allure is enticing, but you cannot stay there for long unless you lose your breath forever. When you come up for air, which is a necessity, life's banal and blaring sounds attack your ears again and you're forced into it, forced to hear it, forced to participate in it. The incessant beeping of an alarm, the buzzing of a doorbell. Never can we find peace in our world, unless we submerge ourselves in death, and the line between life and death is so abstract, that being in a swimming pool we experience both the peace and the banal, sometimes a split second out of the other.

At the same time, death and life are not extreme ends of each other. Rather, life encompasses death in its entirety, and vice versa. The dead person becomes a part of us, in the same way as we become part of the dead person when the person dies. Life and death aren't seen as two separate beings as much as they are one and interchangeable. As the characters in the film teeter in the brink of existence they experience both life and death at the same time, with Nid and Noi fusing into each other unpredictably and Kenji living out his suicidal fantasies in his head yet not being able to die at the same time, is he dead in his mind already, and if so, is he dead? I can't help but sigh at the beauty in which these two (or three?) characters encounter each other. They meet each other at the brink of their lives, just as they are going to lose it, and their lives coalesce and separate and intertwine with each other again, in the hands of fate, they are never one and alone, and yet they are separate identities merged into one.

Both characters yearn for resolution, for a place to take them out of the uncertain limbo they are in. Kenji longs for the resolve (or so he thinks in the beginning) of death and is probably why he arrived in Thailand from Japan. Noi wants to go to Japan to escape having to face the death of her sister and her uneasy existence after that. Yet in the film, there is no resolution or ultimate. Life and death are presented as equally fragile; as simply as life can be destroyed like how Nid died out of a complete freak accident, death can also be discarded away like how Kenji never manages to die. As such they are forced into an existence that has no resolution or comfort, in which the only comfort they can find is with each other. Noi ultimately is left alone in the airport waiting room, and Kenji is left in the police station, and as such, Kenji can only resolve this whole tale in his mind, in a fantasy in which he rejoins Noi in Japan. It is a sweet and heartwarming fantasy, but yet some might argue that it still remains a fantasy and that in reality, the ending is ultimately depressing.

This brings into question the importance of reality in this whole equation. To think of this film logically or mathematically will probably drive anyone nuts, for it is a film that defies any logic or truth. What is truth if life and death aren't at opposites? In the same way, how does reality get the upper hand over fantasy when in fantasy, Kenji has already died twice, and has a happy ending in the end? In any case, does all these even matter when one is in between the line that separates the cool placid waters and the outside world? In the same right, I love that the movie doesn't attempt to explain anything. In any case, what reason do you need to die? If a person can die as suddenly and inexplicably as when shot by his best friend, why can't you take your own life? What reason does anyone need to meet, or in any case, fall in love, then get separated again? What reason do you need to make an abstract, surreal, yet half-completed film? The room in which it allows the audience to complete the film makes it attractive for its unfinished quality. It does not provide anything to be fully satisfying, it does not even provide controversy for one to think about.

Watching this film again, to me, is like plunging into the state of mind of the film again. The consciousness akin to being in a swimming pool, amidst the calm we have two extremes fused into each other, working off each other, and most importantly we can never go into any of the two completely, just teetering on the edge of both ends hoping for fate to deliver someone that comes from the same position for our lives to coalesce.

Cultural exchange

[politic1983 · 7/10 · 18 December 2020]

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

Perhaps just me, but I didn't see anything close to a "love" story per se...

[jreasa · 9/10 · 6 August 2009]

Disagreements and different interpretations of the ending aside, the overpowering feeling I got from the film was one of "redemption".

"Kenji" is an obviously deeply troubled man with a past he's running from, and the fact he's so entrenched in his past deeds or connections he has no one to look after or anything to concern himself with other than his own suicidal thoughts.

"Noi" is his second chance at life, but the chemistry and dynamic of the relationship isn't awfully important. The fact it's nuanced with romanticism is a nice touch, but she represents mostly in my opinion another individual in Kenji's now incredibly closed emotional circle as "someone who needs help". The fact Kenji takes such an interest in her well-being ("good" male influences in her life are apparently uncommon) is what makes her keep this initially creepy guy around.

From start to finish this is what I felt, and makes the ending, while interesting, not the most important thing in my mind to debate. Him smiling in the police station is enough for me; he helped another human being get out of a bad situation, thus at least guaranteeing he added value to a world he was already trying to leave on his own accord. Whatever happens after (if anything) between the two is almost secondary.

The cinematic landscape is littered with films of opposites attracting in strange circumstances. What makes this film better than most is that the underlying premise from my standpoint is something greater.

So slow and empty

[Zoooma · 5/10 · 3 October 2014]

From Thailand, this is a bizarre art house film about loneliness and the struggle to survive. Unfortunately it moves at a snail's pace and doesn't really have much to say. Our main character doesn't want to live then doesn't want to stay in his apartment because of the smelly corpses there. His brother's dead and he meets a girl whose sister has just died. They form a relationship in a weekend over nothing incredible happening. Really?! This is supposed to be comedy, in a way, but I fail to see it, perhaps because I'm just an American used to American or British comedy. I dunno. The camera work is at times beautiful but other times I was left scratching my head wondering why if this person knew what he was doing. Audio, too. I don't often have a hard time understanding a film but this is a little perplexing. Maybe, just maybe, I'll watch it again one day to see if I can see it in a different light, a light that sheds some sense on it.

4.6 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Replacing glum fantasies of suicide

[tomchick-1 · 14 March 2004]

I can completely understand people who wouldn't care for Last Life in the Universe: it's slow, quirky, understated.

To explain it, a brief tangent: To the careful viewer, John Cassavetes's Killing of a Chinese Bookie is about a man who learns to wipe his hand on his jacket. In the beginning of the movie, Cosmo (Ben Gazzara at his best) is celebrating having paid off the bar he runs and finally owning it. He puts on a white suit and goes out for a drink. When the bartender hands him the glass, it's wet. He shakes the water off his hand and looks around for a napkin, obviously reluctant to get anything on his suit.

But by the end of the movie, as he's standing wounded on the curb of the club he's going to lose, waiting for his impending death or arrest, he sees blood on his hand. He casually wipes it onto his jacket without a thought. That's the character arc, carefully described in the way that only Cassavetes could do it.

Last Life of the Universe is similar in how it progresses Kenji, a Japanese expatriate living in Bangkok. It's a movie about how he replaces his glum fantasies of suicide with something else. Like Killing of a Chinese Bookie, the arc is more important than the events or the exposition. The details of who he is, where he came from, or where he's going are peripheral to the change observed by the movie.

Kenji reminded me a lot of Barry Egan in Punch-Drunk Love, another fascinating study in character development. Just like Barry Egan's suit is an important and subtle part of his character development, so is our first glimpse of Kenji's bare back*. He's a mild-manner tidy librarian with an odd side that doesn't make sense until later in the movie. Even then, you have to infer a lot of the details, which are open to interpretation but tell you just enough to explain, for instance, why he's not intimidated by a vicious Thai pimp.

At its basic level, this is a love story about displaced people connected by a strange coincidence. There's a stunning bait-and-switch early on as the movie establishes itself. Like the car wreck at the opening of Punch-Drunk Love, it rattles you with the possibility that anything can happen. And then anything does happen.

The tone is similar to Lost in Translation: languid and disconcerting, adrift in a strange place. But unlike Lost in Translation's portrait of Tokyo as a giant pinball machine that traps people and bounces them around, Last Life progresses from the urban to the rural. The mismatched characters who need each other escape to the country to carve out their own pastoral idyll (Withnail and I comes to mind as another example of this). Here they're free of the metropolitan entanglements that keep people from learning about each other. Here they're forced to listen to each other and experience each other in a way that probably wouldn't have happened in the city.

The actor playing Kenji is Asano Tadanobu, whose name meant nothing to me until I looked him up on IMDB. He's the same guy who played Kakihara, the psychotic renegade yakuza with the unhinged jaw in Ichi the Killer! And here he's a quiet introverted nebbish guy. He also played a noble misguided ronin in Zatoichi. This guy's great! This also explains why there's a funny cameo by Miike, the director of Ichi the Killer, and a weird shot that includes an Ichi movie poster.

I don't know if Last Life got any North American distribution, and I've never heard of the director before. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang is from Thailand, but according to IMDB he studied at a New York art school for eight years and then worked as an art director in Thailand for five years. His background shows clearly in Last Life's visual composition.

The movie looks great. This is the first time I've gone to a movie because of the cinematographer. Christopher Doyle is an Australian who's worked extensively in Asia. He shot Rabbit Proof Fence and Quiet American for Phillip Noyce (the former featuring noteworthy cinematography). For this reason, one of the girls going to Sundance had this movie on her list. So when I was sitting bored in another movie, I decided to leave to try to see Last Life in the Universe. I'm glad I did.

Spoiler: Kenji's back is covered with a giant dragon tattoo, implying he used to be a yakuza back in Japan and explaining a lot of the things that happened previously in the movie.