Curriculum Vitae of Miguel B. Llora,and various other topics

Last Life in the Universe: Part surreal , part romantic, part... yes, Lost in Translationesque, Thai writer-director Pen-Ek Ratanaraung along with Chris Doyle - deliver - rightly or wrongly as Ratanaraung himself alludes to in the interview in the DVD - a less than a knockout punch type of movie (as Chris Doyle and Wong Kar-wai did with In the Mood for Love) around a Lost in Translation theme. Last Life in the Universe, instead of being set in Japan is set in the rough and tumble Thailand. Yes, the main players are Japanese; the Thai component is not too shabby either. What you have is a subtle, yet compelling film about love, friendship, and the meaning of life.
Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) is an fanatically clean Japanese who so happens to be living by himself in good old Bangkok. Kenji earns a living as a mild mannered librarian at the Japanese Cultural Centre. To foreshadow the neat theme, one need only look through his house which reveals the extent of his fussiness. Kenji's books and stuff are organized through a personal filing system. Kenji, as we immediately are exposed to has also been thinking about killing himself. His fantasies are all about death and the methods to achieve it. As all good things come to an end, Kenji's oh so systematic life is thrown into disarray when his brother turns up at his doorstep. Kenji's brother coincidentally is on run from his gang leader. The Yakuza connection is the least of his worries. It is alluded to that Kenji himself is Yakuza with the tattooed back and assassination attempt. The brother complication is a sort of transition into his meeting of Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), who's essentially his exact opposite - like the flipside of his existential angst. She is unsystematic, cluttered, and neglects minutiae. Kenji lands up at her beachside abode, his neat freak nature kicks in and he, predictably, tidies up the house. Almost innocently, a love interest develops between Kenji and Noi, in spite of the language barrier and personality differences - one might even argue because of their diifferences. A short note here about the magic of Chris Doyle. With regards to the house as Ratanaraung alludes to in the interview that accompanies the DVD - Doyle is about making the spaces come alive and become integral to the scene. Absolutely. In this movie, the house becomes as much a player as those who had speaking parts. The collaboration between Ratanaraung and Doyle has produced yet another cinematic gem.
A significant portion of Last Life in the Universe is about the interaction between Kenji and Noi, who are both loners not used to reaching out to others. Pen-Ek's almost let things happen does not result in the Wong Kar-waiesque In the Mood for Love intensity. It's an interesting directorial style for a romance; my sense is for a movie to achieve a sense of eternality it needs to pack a strong emotional punch. Arguably, yes Pen-Ek Ratanaraung is not gunning for cinematic immortality and it is a very beautiful movie - just not Wong Kar-wai of old. Pen-Ek Ratanaraung also plays with the surreal - which is - really cool. The one scene to look out for is when Noi is coming up the steps and surreal nature of the movie lends itself to all the stuff in the house flying in and out of the shelves - pure magical realism and sheer genius. Kenji and Noi do not speak each other's languages, so they turn to a fractured English to communicate, and Pen-Ek Ratanaraung manages to bring to presence the complications of such a situation. The two lead actors deliver a rather nuanced performance.
Last Life in the Universe is a technical and visual delight. The soundtrack wicked. The combination of Doyle and Pan-Ek Ratanaraung allows the actors to let silence do its thing. It may not be In the Mood for Love but plays in its own ballpark and should be acknowledged for that.

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