Found in Translation

At nearly the mid-year mark, the film at the top of Filmbrain's 2004 list is Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Last Life in the Universe. He's seen the film four times now (once at the Tribeca Film Festival, other times on DVD) and each subsequent viewing reveals more and more. Back in April, Filmbrain received an email from Oliver at Pop Life, who had seen the film at the San Francisco International Film Festival. In it, he said that the film was what Lost in Translation was aiming for and missed. Though the two films are far from identical, there is more than a bit of truth in his statement. Last Life in the Universe is set in Bangkok and centers on a Japanese librarian named Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) who is obsessed with committing suicide. Though living in a foreign country, he has done nothing to integrate into the culture, and his entire life is spent between his job at a Japanese library and his rather sterile apartment, which one character actually mistakes for a library, given the mass amount of categorized books stacked throughout. The lizard shown walking up his wall in the opening shot is the only indicator of the locale. Kenji's life is all about order. His shoes, socks, and underwear are filed by day of the week, and his wardrobe consists of identical shirts and trousers, with only slight variations in color. When an item is used in his kitchen, it is immediately washed and put back in its place. He has no friends or acquaintances in Bangkok, save for his older, matronly boss who makes several failed attempts at inviting Kenji over to her place. In his spare time he contemplates suicide, though we're never sure why. Every attempt is thwarted at the last minute by some form of interruption. In contrast to Kenji is Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), a young Thai prostitute who lives in a house that couldn't possibly be any messier. She's the polar opposite of Kenji -- he's a stoic that reads, she gets high and watches bad television. He's a man of few words who is endlessly polite, while she is brash and direct. The two meet through an unfortunate circumstance, and both their lives will be changed forever as a result. By description alone, the film doesn't sound like much. (Thankfully, it doesn't turn into a "hooker with a heart-of-gold saves suicidal man" story.) The acting (particularly by Tadanobu Asano), combined with small touches and subtleties (perhaps missed on first viewing) that Ratanaruang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle bring to the film elevate it to near-perfection status. Asano is one of the most versatile actors working today. He was the blond gang member with the slit mouth in Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer, and most recently appeared as the samurai bodyguard in Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi. (The Miike presence is strong -- not only is an Ichi the Killer poster prominently displayed, but Miike himself turns in a wonderfully comic performance as a Yakuza boss.)

Ratanaruang's direction is extremely controlled, and there's not a superfluous word, gesture, or shot in the entire film. That the title credit doesn't appear until thirty-five minutes into the film is no gimmick, but relevant to the way the story unfolds. This is a film you sink into -- its meditative, slow, lingering shots allow the images to tell the story as much as the (minimal) dialog. The lizard on the wall, the rust stains on Noi's VW, the knife in the kitchen -- all will take on multiple meanings and functions throughout the film. What Filmbrain loves about the film is how Kenji and Noi's relationship evolves out of a third language. Given how they meet, the outcome would no doubt be different had either one spoken the other's language. What's left then is for the two of them to act on instinct, emotion, and broken English. As a result, the two of them learn more about each other than they would have under 'normal' conditions. It's a case of things found through things missing. When Kenji first arrives at Noi's house, she rummages through the mess and pulls out a Thai-Japanese language tape, which is the only dialog heard for the next ten minutes. It's an interesting gesture, even if its purpose isn't readily apparent. Is it for his benefit or hers, or simply a replacement for a conversation they can't have? Though two people communicating in a third language is nothing new, no other film has approached it quite like this. Both are running away from something, and they meet at a time where they each feel they are the last life in the universe. The reason behind Kenji's quirky behavior in the first half is beautifully revealed in the second, but through detail, not exposition. The same holds true with Noi's character development. One could argue that the film has a Buddhist-like quality, with its seemingly fate-driven circumstances. Christopher Doyle's cinematography is, as always, beyond beautiful. It rivals his best work, including the gorgeous In the Mood for Love (which somewhat explains the Wong Kar-wai-ness of the film.) The score by Hua-Lampong Riddim (used generously throughout) is haunting and lush and greatly adds to the mood of the film. (The CD is well worth tracking down.) While it is possible to make comparisons with Lost in Translation, it's clear that the director's intent was different. Sophia was a stranger in a strange land, whereas Ratanaruang (at home with Bangkok) is more interested in revealing a slice of Thai life not often depicted in films. Unlike Kenji and Noi, what unites Bob and Charlotte is more circumstantial than coincidental. Still, the focus in both films is on an unlikely relationship that exhibits restraint, so comparisons are inevitable. With its blend of drama and dark comedy, Last Life in the Universe is a film that can easily be viewed multiple times. The interplay between Tadanobu Asano and Sinitta Boonyasak is so perfect that it's hard to believe this is her first film. Palm Pictures will be releasing the film in the US in August (selected cities only).

Comments

[Filmbrain]

I've always taken the ending to be Kenji's dream from prison, but I think the director left it intentionally ambiguous.

[Deaw]

I saw this film and read the pocket book. Actually Noi and Nid are prostitute! the saying from the pocket book ,"You and me are the same prostitute.". But it isn't the main point of this film.
If you notice in the film. when 2 girls swap their character. It doesn't mean Nid didn't die. But i think it is a feeling of Kenji only. Because when Noi's boyfriend came to her home and he said "Noi"! , although it was a Nid's character.It confirms that just a Kenji's imagine.
Finally, Kenji escapes from trio yakusa. At last he was jailed. but (Pleaz think that!)when he come out from the prison. He can go to Japan and going to see Noi!.So ,The last scene , Noi as a waitress is just his imagine. I think Noi waits for him at the airport.(Didn't u see it?)
I think the director gives us for thinking about probability of life(it is unsure).
Do u agree with me? This is just my comment and my thinking. ^^"

[Deaw]

Forfet to tell u. I'm Thai. So i can read the thai pocket book. it tells clearly that she is a prostitute.
(Sorry about my broken English language^^".)

[MC]

I just stumbled on this page as well, and I agree that much of it is ambiguous, like another excellent film I recently saw, the French film Cache. I liked the contrast in the characters that sometimes reflects the differences in culture having lived in Japan for 9 years and having been to Thailand 5-6 times. I think Noi and Nid are at least in the entertainment trade, known as mizushobai in Japanese, which has many levels and I assume it is the same in Thailand. However, prostitution seems more rampant in Thiland. I think Noi is making the same transformation that Kenji made-in that he was looking for a new life in Thailand which is in oppsition to what was his former life as a violent yakuza--so Noi is looking for a new life as well that is different from her life in Thailand.

[Shawn]

Who is Yakuza? - There are only 4 real Yakuza in this film. The 3 killers who arrive from Japan from Kansei (located in Osaka) airport and 1 other. It is obviously not the loser Thai boyfriend Jon, who is some wannabe gangster thug and gets his ass kicked by every male character in the film. It is *not* Yukio or Takashi (Kenji's brother and his "friend" from Japan). Although it is implied they could be, it is much more probable that they are (like the Thai boyfriend) loser wannabe gangsters. During the bar scene he mocks him saying that cutting off his penis makes him sound like a wananbe Yakuza... there is no way in hell one Yakuza member would mock another like that! And of course the most obvious clue to this is of course the arrival of the real Yakuza (who know nothing of the assasination attempt on Kenji's brother) who have come to assasinate *Kenji*. Kenji of course being the 4th Yakuza in the film. There are numerous clues to this including his forced isolation in Bangkok far from his home in Osaka. His relative unconcern at finding his brother's gun. The ease in which he dispatches his brother's killer and cleans up the mess (think about how unconcerned he was at the time, this is a guy who has killed so often in the past life really holds no meaning for him anymore). His total disregard of the Thai boyfriend (at first on the phone you think maybe he is naive, but when he stands up to him in the kitchen you realize he isnt afraid of that punk at all). And of course the tell-tale Yakuza back tatoos which we see a couple times in the film (in Noi's house, on the beach, in the police station) The same tatoos his brother *doesnt* have (remember when brother goes swimming in the complex's pool and Kenji picks up his clothes? Id also point out two more smaller clues; the Yakuza distinctly say they are here to kill "one man". They go around asking for "Kenji" to everyone they see. And since the movie basically takes place over a couple of days I also doubt that (assuming erroneously that Kenji's brother & friend were both Yakuza) that they would know that anything had gone wrong with that hit. After the shoot out at his apartment we see him sitting in the police station in handcuffs (as he is a known Yakuza member) dreaming of his eventual return to Osaka to reunite with Noi.

The oddest thing about the ending to me is the fact that even though it is shown as Kenji's dream it is probable that it actually happens. In the final sequence we see a supposedly much older Noi (& a girl in the scene that I still say is Noi & Kenji's daughter from the night they spent together when she made him take the bath).

[kennard early]

Interesting points- I think one of the reasons ( besides Christopher Doyle's statement that they were energizing the film at this point )that Nid reappears, is that remember, Kenji was initially attracted to Nid, not Noi.....Possibly it was Kenji's approach to putting closure to his thoughts concerning Nid....I really loved the scene where Noi ( as Nid ) was burning Nid's clothes, praying and lighting incense ( apparently this is a custom? ) This film makes me, as an American living on the border of another country all my life and not really being able to speak Spanish beyond a 4 yr old's ability, feel stupid after seeing other people of different parts of the world being able to communicate in a third language...

[mike]

I remember the 430 movie. My fondest memory was watching The Great Escape every time it was on, the movie always being shown over 2 days. it wasn't until I first saw it in the theater and kept saying "i don't remember that scene" over and over that i realized that it is pretty hard to show a three hour movie in two 90 minute time slots and then cut more for commercials--lots and lots of commercials.