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MOVIES / ON DVD / LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Last Life in the Universe

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Last Life in the Universe (2004)

90%
100%
88%
N/A
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90 %
Reviews Counted: 40 Fresh: 36  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.4/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 15

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Theatrical Release: 30-07-2004

Synopsis: A magic-realist romance about the culture bridges we build - sometimes wish we could jump off of Last Life in the Universe brings together three of the most exciting talents in current world cinema: director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Japanese superstar Asano Tadanobu, and Hong Kong-based... A magic-realist romance about the culture bridges we build - sometimes wish we could jump off of Last Life in the Universe brings together three of the most exciting talents in current world cinema: director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Japanese superstar Asano Tadanobu, and Hong Kong-based cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Under the guidance of this much-celebrated triumvirate, refugee elements of Japanese yakuza films, an unpredictable succession of lush and intoxicating images, and a host of eccentric narrative tics from the cutting edge of Thai cinema converge to tell the story of the mysterious Kenji, a lonely, obsessive-compulsive Japanese librarian's assistant and occasional suicide hobbyist quietly living - and hoping to die - in Bangkok. Hiding from an unknown past, the Mishima-identified and moppishly-coiffed Kenji seems determined on a premature rendezvous with oblivion: when first we meet him, he's already swinging by the neck from a makeshift noose. (Or is he?) If only Nid, the beautiful Thai woman Kenji spies between the shelves one day, hadn't managed to die first. And if only Nid's acid-tongued sister, Noi - who inadvertently begins seducing the suicidal loner back into the chaos of life - weren't leaving for Osaka on the Monday morning plane... -- © Palm Pictures [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Sinitta Boonyasak, Laila Boonyasak, Matsushige Yutaka, Takeuchi Riki

Director: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Screenwriter: Prabda Yoon, Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Producer: Nonzee Nimibutr, Duangkamol Limcharoen
Composer: Small Room, Hualampong Riddim

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 2, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Surround Sound 5.1 English

Additional Release Material:

  • Commentary
  • Interviews with Cast and Crew
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

DVD Rom Features:

  • Weblinks

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

It's an unsuccessful experiment in combining genres that are as irreconcilable as oil and water.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
08/03/04
Ryan Gilbey
Sight and Sound
Ratings Image
3/5

A disarmingly sweet, darkly funny charmer.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/30/04
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

It may sound like a conventional tale, but this is full of magical surprises that occasionally ruffle its otherwise serene surface.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/06/04
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
8/10

Un film dont les élans singuliers mènent à la fascination.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/04/07
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama
Ratings Image
4/5

One fascinating -- if not wholly accessible -- movie.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/21/06
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image
2/5

Asano é sempre um ator interessante, mas a montagem é auto-indulgente e o roteiro, pretensioso.

comment Comment
09/26/05
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
A

Macabre film about a suicidal librarian.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/29/05
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
N/A

A film that demands second and even third viewings in order to absorb all of its nuances.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/05
Matt Bailey
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Ratings Image
N/A

This trip-hoppy tone poem left me feeling like I'd never seen a movie before.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/05/04
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
11/19/04
Sharon Mizota
PopMatters
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B+

... a dreamy study in stillness broken by suicide fantasies, flashbacks, and the hired killers, but even the violence has a meditative even melancholy quality to it...

Full Review | comment Comment
10/04/04
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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2.5/4

It's an offbeat romance that defies easy labeling, recommendable as a film buff's pleasure and a semi-audacious art-house curio.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/01/04
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
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N/A

[Reflects] the growing interpenetration of many individual national cinemas into a cultural conglomerate that reflects the irresistible tide of cinematic globalization.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/01/04
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Ratings Image
4/4

The film has a precise, slow pace that allows us to get to know these quiet, quirky characters, and an imaginatively experimental approach to their thoughts and dreams.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/17/04
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
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3/4

An absorbing series of intricately planned shots that play like installation art at a modern museum.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/17/04
Michael Booth
Denver Post
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3.5/4

Constantly surprising.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/17/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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3/4

There is some lovely filmmaking here, and nice surprises.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/20/04
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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2/4

This arthouse drama could have used less concept and more focused storytelling.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
08/20/04
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald
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4/5

The Thai locales, the stars and Doyle's expressive cinematography add up to a disarmingly seductive yet always precarious film experience.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/19/04
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE opens in the USA. August 6...email your theater NOW!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 1/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE opens in the USA. August 6...email your theater NOW!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 1/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE opens in the USA. August 6...email your theater NOW!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 1/9/07


REEL_REVIEWER
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE opens in the USA. August 6...email your theater NOW!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 1/9/07

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• Last Life in the Universe at Rotten Tomatoes
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