jreasa Disagreements and different interpretations of the ending aside, the overpowering feeling I got from the film was one of "redemption"."Kenji" is an obviously deeply troubled man with a past he's running from, and the fact he's so entrenched in his past deeds or connections he has no one to look after or anything to concern himself with other than his own suicidal thoughts."Noi" is his second chance at life, but the chemistry and dynamic of the relationship isn't awfully important. The fact it's nuanced with romanticism is a nice touch, but she represents mostly in my opinion another individual in Kenji's now incredibly closed emotional circle as "someone who needs help". The fact Kenji takes such an interest in her well-being ("good" male influences in her life are apparently uncommon) is what makes her keep this initially creepy guy around.From start to finish this is what I felt, and makes the ending, while interesting, not the most important thing in my mind to debate. Him smiling in the police station is enough for me; he helped another human being get out of a bad situation, thus at least guaranteeing he added value to a world he was already trying to leave on his own accord. Whatever happens after (if anything) between the two is almost secondary.The cinematic landscape is littered with films of opposites attracting in strange circumstances. What makes this film better than most is that the underlying premise from my standpoint is something greater.

DoubtfulHenry Last Life in the Universe, a story about a suicidal librarian who moves in with a pot smoking woman, i'm sure you've already read the synopsis of the film.I liked the story quite a bit, it held my interest for the most part. It had some unexpected twists and turns. The imagery was especially beautiful. A lot of cool shots and directing concepts drew me strongly. The chemistry between Kenji and Noi was realistic and charming. The cute quips they fired back and forth put a grin on my face.However, the pace was slower than it needed to be i felt. It's hard to appreciate good imagery and dialogue when the shots linger too long. The movie could have been about 15 minutes shorter of the director had edited down some of the shots go on too long after we get the gist of it.7/10 heartfelt and intriguing, but let's not take so long about it please?

vailsy i really didn't like the sound in this movie at all. it drew far too much attention to itself and was a distraction for mefor example, noi closes her house up before heading off to japan.. we don't hear the gate closing at all but we do hear her locking it. why? the car rarely makes a noise and instead we hear the gentle sound of the waves. a nice idea, but overdone overall i found the sound in this movie to be inconsistent and confusing. very much like the movie as a whole before you rush out to see or buy this movie, bear in mind that the IMDb rating here is based on around just 40 or so reviews currently (07')

ebossert I really enjoy a good art-house romance. The Road Home, In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express, White Valentine, Beyond Our Ken, and 3-Iron were all very enjoyable. I've seen Last Life In the Universe (LLITU) now three times. I keep hearing all sorts of excellent references to this film, so I keep watching it to see if I'm missing anything. It's now safe to say that I'm not. It's not a bad film, but it's not a great one either. In a nutshell, it's a well-made movie that stumbles in both its conceptual and relationship development.The theme of suicide is important in LLITU, but I was never convinced that Kenji was suicidal. His friend stops by his apartment, sees the noose, and says "suicide again?", inferring that Kenji keeps implying that he wants to kill himself, but lacks any sort of seriousness about it. His roommate then pulls the noose and it easily slips away from its foundation, thus implying that Kenji is so devoid of resolve that he fails to tie the rope tightly to the ceiling. Later on, the yakuza points a gun at him and he cowers backward, thus implying that he is, in fact, afraid to die. All of this contradicts the claim that Kenji was somehow suicidal before he meets Noi. In my opinion, this prevents LLITU from establishing even the slightest dramatic weight from the theme of suicide. The concept itself becomes superfluous and useless.The same is true to a lesser extent with Noi's guilt over her sister's death. One minute she's crying over it, the next minute she admits that she thinks of her sister "sometimes", even though she died only a few days earlier. She also refuses to return to the hospital and witness her sister's burial/cremation. These events mitigate some of the impact of guilt on Noi's character. Basically, she was "getting over it" too quickly.Some may feel that I am nitpicking, and that's fine. Where this film truly stumbles is in the romantic development between the two leads. There is a patent lack of important narrative. This is not a problem, in and of itself, if the film is capable of establishing non-narrative maturity (i.e., Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron). This is not easy to accomplish, however, and requires particularly clever scriptwriting to provide interesting events and scenarios that allow the characters to use physical interaction and subtle, non-verbal communication. No such memorable events are forthcoming here. Kenji cleans Noi's house, hits her boyfriend, then they go out for a generic night on the town. That's about it.If the filmmakers wish to convince me that two people could somehow develop a deep caring for one another over a single weekend, they had better provide some compelling moments with significant emotional/dramatic weight. Lots of uninteresting, everyday events fail to do the job. Relationship development is not earned by characters washing dishes, doing laundry, or strolling around an empty house. Sure, it's all very pretty, very slow, and distinctively "art house", but it's also very tiresome, and frankly a waste of time.I'm not sure exactly how people fall in love – if love exists at all in this world – but I sure as hell know that it requires something special. This film trivializes it and turns it into something so inconsequential and easy to obtain that it effectively becomes a meaningless, petty incident. I've personally been searching my entire life for someone to care for. It's nice to know that I can simply invite a girl to hang out for the weekend and do my laundry. I'll be married by the end of the month.LLITU is not horrible by any means. The acting is solid, the women are sexy, and the atmosphere is calm and effective, but I honestly cannot think of one truly memorable scene in this 104-minute film. Needless to say, it left no emotional aftereffects. It ended, I put the DVD back in its case, wrote this review, and forgot about it instantly. Although something tells me that I'll be constantly reminded of its "greatness" by its many loyal fans.(On a side note, here again we have another art-house film attempting to convey the concept of loneliness, ala Tsai Ming-liang. While this film is not nearly as bad as Tsai's films, it still ultimately fails to say much of anything or contribute any depth or insight to the concept of loneliness, and only provides a very vague, superficial treatment of an implicitly interesting topic. Kiyoshi Kurosawa should again be commended here for creating a deliberately-paced yet interesting exposition on loneliness in his film Kairo. It is interesting to note that his horror film accomplishes more maturity and conceptual development than art-house dramas that attempt the same.)