Last Life in the Universe (2003)

Dreadfully Boring

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

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

I have seen this when it first came out in 2004 in an art-house cinema in Australia. Recently, I have watched it again in Bangkok, where the story takes place - although this is not a Bangkok that has much in common with its real counterpart.Then I read some of the reviews on IMDb.Sometimes people's reactions to a film amaze me. It is not that I would expect everyone to understand or appreciate the delightful idiosyncrasies of a film like Last Life. Nor would I be condescending to those that dislike the film. I don't mind a good actioner every now and then. However, films like Last Life remind me how easily a film can become a poetic experience or an essay in philosophy.Last Life is the former. With its gentle pace, its in-cinema jokes (did you notice Todunabu Asano's bleached hair Ichii the Killer face on the poster or recognized Ichi's director Miike as the thug?), its very-Thai light comedy pushed into the midst of melancholy, it is a touching yet elusive poem. Poem about what? About life, death, love, and how it is preferable to be with the people you think you cannot stand to being alone.It is admittedly acquired taste - especially for those that are brought up on supersized Hollywood junk. For the rest of us, whether or not we get all the meaning there is (whether or not there is a meaning) it is a delightful experience.

About one year ago I watched the first 40 minutes, I think, of this film and I liked but it was after midnight so I was tired and this film was a complete "knock out". But I always remembered the images of Tadanobu Asano's character in the first part of the film and I really have desires of watch the film so finally last week I have the chance to get the DVD and finally watch it.In the 30 minutes introduction of the story, we can see the behavior and some of the thoughts of Kenji (Tadanobu Asano), a Japanese man living and wanting to die in Bangkok, Thailand. He is extremely tidy and extremely clean, spending his time working in a library, reading and thinking in his suicide but the reasons of why he wants to be dead are not the common, like he says, like money problems or a failed relation. He has a strange and mysterious view to dead but suddenly he is witness of the dead of Nid (Laila Boonyasak), the little sister of Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak) and he enters in the life of Noi, having a strange but strong friendship with her.I really enjoyed and loved this strange film. I say strange because it actually begins after 30 minutes of introduction and because it has many bizarre scenes. The first part is full of the poetry that Kenji relates to dead and the thoughts of the lizard from Kenji's book feels like another thought of the same Kenji. Also in that part we can see the relation between Kenji and his brother Yukio (Yutaka Matsushige) who is a Yakuza that looks Kenji just as a crazy man. When he enters in the life of Noi everything is different because both are really different from each other, even in the feelings about losing a brother/sister. The end is strange because we can see that Kenji and Noi build a great friendship but also that Kenji is in danger because of the Yakuzas.Anyway, the cast is superb with an amazing performance of Tadanobu Asano. I have only watched him in a main role in other film, "Ichi the Killer", and this role is very different but both performances are amazing. The sisters Boonyasak are great and the support cast is very little but has the funny performance of the great Takashi Miike. It was so great to see Miike as a Yakuza and also the detail of the poster of "Ichi the Killer" with Kakihara is great.Conclusion: I love this film that was my introduction to the work of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. I recommend this beautiful film to any fan of Jim Jarmusch because Pen-Ek Ratanaruang has all of his influence and because is just great.

I am a fan of European and Asian films. I taped this movie on my video to enjoy it during my day off. I was excited and maybe expecting a lot out of it. But, it turn out to be 2 hours of dullness.It starts and the expectations are high. It gives you a pick when the main character experience a murder in his on house and makes another one tho save his life. This is the part where I was expecting the character to change dramatically. The plot up to that point is great, but then the character can not remain the same and start a "love" story! The character should have start feeling things like guilt maybe or whatever to change his view of things, his philosophy of the world, his ego and so on.The movie had great potential and manage to spoil it by showing us the last "love" in the universe. Even this could have been done in a better way. How the hell someone murder and then goes on with his life and get happy because he gets a new "old car" and on and on...Unfortunately the movie is 3 out of 10 And my afternoon was destroyed...