Still some life

Indiewire recently talked to Last Life in the Universe director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, who talked about the collaborative effort with co-writer Prabda Yoon and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. He also talked at length about how the film's main character is a mirror of sorts.

Before the renowned novelist Prabda Yoon revised it extensively, Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang had a script for the film that became Last Life in the Universe. The protagonist was (and remains) preoccupied with death, as was the filmmaker. "I didn't want to die, but I thought about death a lot," Ratanaruang says. "In Thai culture, death is not a bad thing. In Buddhism, death is a part of life. You will continue anyway. I felt so tired. I was employed by an advertising company that let me go out and make films. In my spare time I would shoot TV commercials for friends. I found out that everyone around me felt the same way. The world seemed to be spinning so fast. We were saying, 'Maybe we should die. It would be more relaxing -- and that's exactly what Kenji says in the film.'"

The overall tone is dark and moody. "I am 42 now, and look at things differently," says Ratanaruang, who studied art history at Pratt and worked as a graphic designer for Designframe Inc. in New York in the early to mid-'80s. "That's why this film is different from my other films (Fun Bar Karaoke; 6ixty Nin9 and Monrak Transistor). "I'm 42. You have lost a few more loves, you become lonelier."

Last Life is a true collaboration by people who already know one another. "[Cinematographer] Chris [Doyle] and I and Asano and [actor and cult Japanese director] Miike Takashi are friends. I've known [producer] Wouter [Barendrecht] for a long time. I knew Prabda from the set of Monrak Transistor,' because he was at that time the boyfriend of the lead actress," the director says. "I knew Asano from film festivals. He has worked with Wong Kar-wai, who has always been supportive of my work, a few times. Chris, who I knew and who works with Wong Kar-wai, loves Asanao. It's a family film."

Doyle has a reputation for sometimes taking over projects from directors who don't know what they want. Did he make the shoot difficult for Ratanaruang? "No, I enjoyed it very much," he replies. "Chris works like a journeyman. What was great is that he didn't have preconceived ideas about filming in Thailand. He got a bit lost here. He didn't know the place. He wasn't familiar with the temperature or the local color. Space in Thailand is bigger than in most Asian countries, and most of his films have been shot where spaces are smaller. So he absorbed things day by day while we were shooting. We decided to find the film along the way, almost organically."

He takes a deep breath. "Still, we fought every day."