Rating: 7.5 / 10
Directed By: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang	Written By: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang Prabda Yoon	Released: 2003

With only his fourth feature, lesser known Thai director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, more commonly known as simply Pen-Ek in the cinema world, has put together a uniquely fascinating film with Last Life in the Universe. The protagonist Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) is a character so quirky and intriguing that it's just necessary he be put in a film. An obsessive compulsive, suicidal, introverted Japanese man living in Thailand, Kenji brings enough entertainment with his antics throughout the film to warrant a viewing. Coupling this with some crafty directing from Pen-Ek, who uses many shots of stillness and non-action (especially in bizarre situations) to amplify the awkwardness of Kenji, and what we've got is a slightly strange film that is appealing in its uniqueness if nothing else.

Last Life in the Universe is a film that focuses on the beauty of human relationships, despite the circumstances from which they might arise, by looking at the unlikely relationship born between two social outcasts, Kenji and Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), a young, single, rebellious Thai woman. Where their dialogue, containing fragments of Thai, Japanese, and English, is laced with misunderstanding, there exists between these two a connection that transcends typical social formalities and perhaps can only be found with one other particular person.

Also intriguing are the visual techniques employed by Pen-Ek to blur the distinction between reality and imagination, such as when Noi is replaced by her younger sister Nid (Laila Boonyasak) without any distinct indication that some fantasy has begun. Instead, one shot shows Noi, and the next Nid in the same postion, in line with the flow of action (or lack thereof in this particular scene).

Pen-Ek's film makes rather effective use of subtleties to discreetly reveal more about the characters, their relationship, and their pasts. He chooses to explore one of the more beautiful aspects of the human experience: the possibility of discovering something astounding in a person in whom it is completely unexpected. This exploration he approaches in a way that is both humorous and sincere, and with the added effects of directorial creativity as well as thoroughly good acting by Asano and Sinitta Boonyasak, Last Life in the Universe is definitely worth a look.