This movie Last Life in the Universe (2003 by Pen-ek Ratanaruang) was way better than I had imagined; whenever I stepped in the local Blockbusters', the box caught my eyes. After I read the brief introduction on the back of the cover, however, I quickly got turned off given it was another mysterious Japanese gangster plot line with a 'cute Asian chick'. I absolutely would not have taken it up had it been for the library material as opposed to any checking out from DVD store or Netflix that I have been suffering for the current addiction for. What it turned out to be was such a delight that it was worth pursuing even with paying for it.

The bruising world and sexual politics is undertoned in this drama; a suicidal Japanese librarian Kenji meets a local girl, Noi. The comomn thing between two of them is that both of them recently lost their siblings; the Jap guy lost his gangster brother and Noi lost her sister by a car accident that hit her right in front of two of them, and that incident actually put them together.

While Kenji shelters in Noi's more than half abondoned and caotic house and cleans in return for the hospitality Noi offers to him, they develop a heartful relationship that is somewhere between frindship/family/love until Noi takes off for Japan, and the librarian faces the consequences of homicide scene he fled unattended in his cozy and isolated apartment.

Asano, the Japanese actor who acted Kenji, was convincing enough to manifest the complexity this role signifies; the power and undercurrent of ultra violence Japanese male embodies to Thai people's history and current politics where girls are entertain Japanese that constitutes mostly of sex tourists. The movie unfolds in the business that is specifically targeted to Japanese male by certain constume performance that is to immitate Japanese school girls' uniforms, and Noi's dead sister was one of those hostesses in the uniform.

Everybody knows that Thailand acqired its notoriety and a huge amount of profit out of the world biggest sex tourism at some point in last three decades, but not a lot of people know in the world who invested for the business, capitalized and profited the Thai sex industry; Japanese investors. So the relationship between local Thai and Japanese men are hookers, their dependents and their pimps. Asano's role was to show the unwilling participation and resistence to the visceral politics, and violence he repeatedly get involved even though he is the least wishing to, is the metaphor and reflection of the reality Japan has to play it hufe role of.

Although it might sound deplorable premise and connotation, this drama never succumbs to the common vocabulary or the cliched political struggle. What this movie manages to capture was beauty of people and fulfilling view on life if you know what to see and what to appreciate. The beauty in the despription of the local landscape and people opens audience's eyes to wonder how little politics, sociology and statistics could convey to outside of the community, and how distorted and underrepresented Thais are to people all over the world. The visceral political situation is never about the local people's lives but the distortion and miscommunication. You get the essence of the wonder only if you see this movie. The suble but the very articulate observation is achieved because the materials they deal with and they are really lucid about it. It would have never been the same it this drama was about the local and American, but only with Japanese people, this bitter sweet movie was achieved.

And the seemingly only 'cute and easy local chick' was the most dignified caracter in this movie; she was offering this man she could have hated/thrown herself at one time deal of reviving himself by showing a perspective in life that he never knew. She just saved this passer by without asking anything in return. She just did so as another life in the universe.

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