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Last Life in the Universe Actors: Tadanobu Asano, Sinitta Boonyasak, Takashi Miike Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Umvd/Visual Entertai Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "Great movie!"I really loved this movie...there is a great love story between 2 complete opposites. The ending of the movie is just so awesome, but of course I won't say what happens..you should definatley check this movie out. "Delving deep into relationships"I love the way that Last Life in the Universe dives deep into relationships with no regrests. It takes a realistic look at suicide that you never see in American films. I love the elements of Yakuza film that it has. Truly a brillian movie that everyone should watch. It is now my favorite movie ever because you experience something new each time you watch it. "Better than Lost"Many of the aspects of Last Life in the Universe resemble Lost In Translation, but this film is even better. It tells the story of how fate brings two strangers together to help one another. It is one of the best asian films ever! It really explores people's interaction and relationship. "Best Movie Ever!!"Last Life in the Universe definetly makes the list of top foreign, asian, and plain films of all time. It reminds me of Lost in Translation, but so much more. You really feel for the characters. It is an amazing film for art film lovers. The cinematography is worth seeing the film alone. "Hope and Grief: Disconnected Spheres in Slow Orbit"Originally concieved as an excuse for four cinematic talents to combine forces and make a film together (i.e. "to have some fun"), *Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan)* has moved above and beyond its humble genesis to become an art-house watermark for the burgeoning Thai film industry, the splendid result of multi-cultural synergistic craft. The first mature outing for writer/director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, *Last Life in the Universe* concerns itself with two disconnected spheres, slowly orbiting the other, seeking solace against the grief of the past. Kenji, a Japanese ex-pat living in Bangkok, spends his days working in a library, reading voraciously and constantly daydreaming about suicide. "They say death is relaxing," he reflects in the beginning, "no pressure...no responsibilities." Kenji makes several efforts to fulfill his daydreams, to no avail: either his obsessive-compulsive tendencies interfere (he cannot resist the buzzing of a doorbell, or the ring of a telephone), or else outside events interrupt, one of which brings him into contact with Noi, a wildfire Thai escort and the polar opposite of Kenji's ultra-neat introvert. Due to circumstances which I will not reveal, the two end up at Noi's huge, filthy house in the rural outskirts of Bangkok, haltingly communicating in Thai, Japanese and English, slowly overcoming the barriers of language and temperament to engage in a languid, touching relationship. In the background, dangerous elements begin to emerge and threaten this tenuous connection; but Kenji and Noi, oblivious, continue to drift toward a hazily-imagined horizon of love and contentment. Ace cinematographer Christopher Doyle (*Hero*) adds his usual brilliant touch, capturing the integral element of ~space~ within Noi and Kenji's divergent domains, framing the characters so that all that unsaid speaks volumes. This is necessary to the film, in that, by the director's own admission, the script is "thin." Certain clues as to the man beneath inscrutable, closed-mouthed Kenji are represented in this manner (a mere moment of revelation - physically - in turn exposes a great deal of the ex-pat's backstory), as is the development of the relationship proper. Tadanobu Asano (*Ichi the Killer*) is almost unrecognizable as the stiff, emotionally-repressed Kenji, and Sinitta Boonyasak as Noi is simply a delight, playing well off Asano and exhibiting some real talent. Prolific 'shock n' drang' film-maestro Takashi Miike makes a brief cameo as a Yakuza, along with a couple of stock thugs (Yoji Tanaka and Sakichi Sato) who have graced any number of Nihon-noir flicks and even Quentin Tarantino's *Kill Bill* metahomage. Others have remarked on the similarity of this film to *Lost in Translation*, and I find it interesting that both were submitted to Cannes at the same time. Both films contain characters in transition-phase, struggling with language-confusion and inner trauma; both are slowly paced and scored to dreamy ambience. I consider *Last Light in the Universe* to be the better film, preferring the contrast of Noi and Kenji to that of bored, spoiled Westerns bouncing around the teflon glamour of Tokyo, sulking and sighing in the plight of their apathy; moreover, *Last Light* contains brief moments of violence, exploitation and surreal visual inspiration that startle the viewer from the languid mood of the pacing, giving the occasionally-cloudy atmosphere a much-needed grounding in reality. DVD comes with an interview of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang about the making of the film, an insightful commentary track and photo gallery courtesy of Christopher Doyle, and trailers for several art-house flicks. Happily, the ambiguous, multi-interpretive nature of the ending is not set in concrete by either Pen-Ek or Doyle. I am content to reflect on the parable of the lizard: "...Without family, friends, even enemies...what was there to live for?" Kenji's emergence from a soul-crushing despondency to answer this vital question, be it 'real' or simply hopeful fantasy, is enough. Five Stars. |
