What an odd little film this is. Directed by Penek Ratanaruang, Last Life in the Universe is a suitably bizarre and strangely intertwined drama about two people thrown together who have little business being in each other's lives. Kenji (Tandanobu Asano) is a young Japanese man who, when we first meet him, is fantasising about ending it all. He's something of a strange fish, and finds it easier to relate to characters from books than real people. That all changes when screwy Thai hostess Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak) side-winds into his life, disrupting everything. Matters are further complicated when it emerges that the Japanese version of the mafia, the Yakuza, would quite like to have a word in Kenji's ear. Or indeed, his ear.
A dreamy, sloping and fragile movie in which atmosphere is treasured more than realism; Last Life in the Universe is essentially a subtle treatise on the complexity of love. Delicately poised, it traces the development of Kenji and Noi's relationship in a dream-like fashion. It requires patience and there are some misjudgements - the humour is a little heavy-handed in places - but Last Life in the Universe has an ethereal quality all of its own.
