Ruang rak noi nid mahasan

I probably should not have watched this at 2am. I woke from my sleep and was looking for something interesting. Despite a noise inside my head calling me to go back to bed, I was entranced at the story unfolding before me.

Tadanobu Asano, who I last saw in Zatôichi, was captivating as a suicidal Japanese man living in Bangkock. He is an obsessive-compulsive on the order of Monk. He crosses paths with Sinitta Boonyasak in her first film. Her house is reminiscent of writers Iris Murdoch and John Bayley in it's proportion of slovenliness. They barely manage to communicate as she is barely conversant in Japanese and he in Thai.

We watch them as they try to communicate and share their tragedies in common. Both recently lost siblings. It is a Lost in Translation type of movie brilliantly done by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. She smokes while he cleans and is in the background. Somehow they manage to help each other through their pain.

I know I will have to watch this again as I was not fully awake. I look forward to that experience.

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.

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.

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.

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.