Hi all,
After catching the movie, the ending seems a bit elusive to me. Is it that straight forward? That Kenji got arrested for bringing down the three yakuzas and the reunion with Noi is just his imagination?
Can anyone help here?
Thanks!
yes you did... congratulations (lol)!
shareThanks Sebul!
I interpreted it differently... I felt that he went home to Japan... did his time for whatever he did in his past/present for being in the 'mob' and then after time had passed and got released he found her and reunited...
thoughts....
--J
If someone got caught in a situation like this
over there he won't leave prison anymore. I
think this is also the point. His life and all
prospects are ending there in that moment.
Is it possible that Kenji tricked the police that the Yakuzas did everything and he is innocent. Just my shallow thoughts. lol
I enjoy this movie so much.
It is sad but in a way, and I'm probably stretching it, uplifting. Since he found Noi, he imagines life with her instead of death as bliss.
shareIt could even be that even more is in his imagination as he thinks about the girl in the library.
Or he may not even have successfully left Japan a la "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". But at the minimum the "reunion" is imaginary.
Yes, I also thought of it like An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. I think he died when his brother got shot towards the beginning and the rest of the movie was his imagination. Three things lead me to believe this:
1. They keep switching between the two sisters and one of them is supposed to be dead, so something is obviously unreal here.
2. I believe he says something at the end in prison regarding how everything is right, like he finally was able to die. I also don't think he would have survived that fall out the bathroom window when he escaped.
3. He wanted to die, but not because he was sad, right? So what made him stop trying to kill himself? Was he happy because he was interacting with members of the opposite sex? No, I think since he was already dead he no longer felt the desire to die to his imagination just ran wild.
That was my interpretation, at least.
through out the film, kenji was indifference in life. he neither have reason to live nor have reason to die. in the last sence, he finally found his reason to live, even though the situation he was in was worse than before. However, the force of wanting to stay a live for seeing her again overcomes all the hardship.
kuh
I agree with alot of people on here that he went to jail and that the japan thing was a fantasy...but why if he was in jail did he have these guns and a knife right in front of him. Maybe there is somthing deeper we are missing?
sharei know it may sound obvious, but i think when a writer puts an idea down, or a director sets up a scene, i don't think they always know what it's supposed to mean. if you beleive in the subconscious and it's influence on creative expression, then things can take on meaning beyond it's explicit or even indended one.
the gun, knife and passport might just have been put there as a kind of memoir to the character, in a way. or perhaps it says that at that moment his life is over, but we know the truth of his life beyond his life of crime, one enriched by love and by experience, which no one can ever take away from him, and indeed he keeps that love and experience by meeting his love again in his dreams.
My take on this was that when the yakuza shot the guy in the kitchen the police were called and kenji was picked up fleeing the crime scene. Since the yakuza guys probably had enough money and power to buy their ways out then this would leave Kenji responsible for three dead bodies. The passport and book were the items he had on him and the guns and knife were things that the police found in his apartment. The reason that they were in front of him was because he had just been picked up and they were about to question him about what happened.
I also agree that the Japan thing was a Fantasy. The last real thing we saw of Noi was her alone in the airport waiting for him to show up. But of course he couldn't since he had been arested.
This was a great film.
Okay my take is that he did actually goto Japan and meet up with Noi eventually in the end, my reasons are that:
1) We see Noi running a cafe in Japan (Did she not say she wanted to do the same kind of work she did in Thailand in Japan?) The film never told us if she worked in the same line of work as her hostess sister but assuming she did, then wouldn't she have done that when she got to Japan and then somehow got enough money together to run a cafe or even quit that hostess job and work in a cafe? All of these events point to a passing of time.
2) We see Noi with her hair cut really short, shorter than when she had it in Thailand, i am assuming that is intentional and is used to also convey a passing of time and not just some instant hair change.
3) The book Kenji wanted, it was definately lost in the earlier scenes, perhaps when he got out of jail or even was released early, he went and purchased the book again or found it again sum how and also got a new bag because the bag in the later scene was slightly darker and it was similiar but not identical to his earlier bag. I think this is a glimpse of the future to come, and it zooms back to Kenji in the cop station before he has to do his time and then the last scene is of Noi in the airport waiting for him, we assume she goes onto her flight and does points 1 and 2 before kenji gets outta prison and reunites with her, point 3.
I think it is obvious which bits are in Kenji's mind, the bits that don't come true are the one's that are figments of his imagination, I think this is because he is indifferent to everything at the start and has nothing to live for. However i believe that the end scene with him dreaming that he meets up with Noi in japan is actually something that is going to happen that has not happened yet. This is because he has found something that was once lost, represented by the lizard book in his pouch at the end perhaps? He always asks for his lizard from Noi maybe it means that he is searching for something to live for or care about, remember he saw Nid read the lizard book in the library at the start and perhaps that shows that he has fallen in love with her/has something to live for or care about, but then she dies so he becomes despondant again and wants to kill himself again as shown in Noi's kitchen the scene where he was just about to cut his wrist with the knife. He keeps asking her for the book as if developing feelings for her, until she suddenly changes into her sister for a bit as if a transference of love maybe and in the end the book is in his bag, he has found the book ie. a reason to live or care for and will endeavour to try and meet her again in the future although none of that has happened yet because it cuts to him in the police station and her in airport.
Kenji + Prison
Why would the Yakuza want to kill Kenji? Kenji has no fingers chopped off his hand indicating that he did not screw up whilst in the Yakuza gang. The Yakuza probably came after him because he killed the assasin who was the supposed friend of his brother.What is the significance of one of the Yakuza having an injured eye? Anyways, in the end scene at the police station they clearly show a silver gun (the one he found in the teddy bear at the start that he used to shoot his brother's supposed friend) and a black beretta hand gun (most likely of that of the jealous bf of Noi who was shot dead in Kenji's kitchen by the Yakuza. We clearly see the Yakuza using a glock hand gun when they kill the jealous bf, they wipe the prints off the hand gun and maybe stash it in Kenji's apartment for the cops to find so they can blame him. Maybe that is why they apprehended him at the airport or picked him up in the street. Okay so assuming the Yakuza guys got away scot free, the cops would find the Glock hand gun used to murder the jealous bf and Kenji's brother's silver gun plus his brother and his brother's friend's body underneath his table. Hard to prove your innocence, although I think if they do ballistics and fingerprint tests it should corroborate his story that he killed his brother's friend/assasin after the friend/assasin shot his brother. Proving his innocence, noboddy saw Kenji enter his apartment, for all they know he wasn't in there when the shooting started, what of the police or guard who saw the both the jealous bf and the Yakuza just tbefore the shooting started? We could probably testify that they started shooting and killed eachother. What of Kenji? Perhaps he told the cops everything about his Yakuza boss? His sentence is reduced to man slaughter of the friend/assasin or a self defence plea may save him from a harsh sentence, he serves his time for not telling the police about the murders in his house and gets out later moving straight to point 3 above.
After thinking about it, here's my take. Tying in with the beginning scene, where Kenji is on the verge of hanging himself and states that this is one possible future outcome, the ending portrays three possible outcomes. One: Knowing that death is imminent, Kenji ultimately decides to kill himself by jumping out of his bathroom window. Two: Kenji is somehow saved from the hitmen in his apartment, but is arrested for murder. Three: Kenji escapes his apartment and reunites with Noi in Japan. If I'm correct, this scenario implies more participation on the part of the viewer and portrays a complex diegetic universe.
shareI think he is arrested for murder... Maybe he gets off, maybe he will be in for years... Then the Osaka scenes with Noi is just imagination of how it WILL be once they meet again. It`s sort of his motivation to live now. To see Noi again.
That`s my more happy version!
I think you are pretty corrrect.
A lot of people here seem to be devising scenarios that are very reality based... which is odd because I didn't feel like the film was very reality based. I think a lot of it could be called into question aas to whether it was really happening or not.
I feel like the director has been very clever in his editing, allowing multiple interpretations of the ending, without destroying the mood, or changing your opinion depending on what kind of outcome you see... very nicely done.
i think, the movie is trying to show what could have happen to kenji if he doesnt commit suicide. I think the end part where they both were united is a potential event that has not yet happened but probably will if kenji stays alive and complete his jail terms. Judging to his smile while being handcuffed, he probably has found a reason to live.
shareWhat a great film....almost Brechtian...but still, the beginning doesn't really allow us to interpret what happens, it has him live instead of die (unless you believe that he does die and that it's just an imagination or 'what if' kinda film onwards(I don't)), but the ending, almost finishing off the circle, lets us decide, that's the beauty of it...I'm still undecided as to what does happen, I have to watch it again, however, I'm guessing by the response this has caused, the ambiguity of the ending was intended...
shareBlaow!
That just about sums it up for me.
Terrific film. I wub it.
Just watched the film. It does leave a viewer wondering. For sure, it's open to interpretation; and interpretations tend to diminish the art as the mind struggles to make sense of what it just saw.
Having said that, I think Kenji is in a police station at the end and not as one person who posted recently suggested in the hands of the 3 Yakuza. Remember, when the trio rushes into the bathroom, there's the sound of a police siren in the background?
If Thai cops were like their Japanese counterparts, a thorough investigation would follow. If (big IF) the probe goes deeply enough, Kenji will be exonerated. He killed his brother's murderer in self-defense; and the dead Thai pimp was in the right place at the wrong time. I know there's lots of room for argument here. That's the art in Last Life. But once one begins to lay an interprtation on the movie (the sense making mind), one's own preferences come out. Mine is that he rejoins Noi.
One thing's certain. At the end, he knows he has something to live for (even if he's about to die or go to jail). Remember the dialogue in the VW?
Do you want to see me again?
Yes.
When?
One day.
The DVD's last chapter title, "A Wish", leads me to believe that everything after the white-out, to where he's sitting in jail and everything in Osaka was his imagination of the ideal end to this story. RIGHT before he dies from jumping out of the window.
but...
something that bugged me was the two bullet holes in the book. it really didn't fit, maybe im thinking too much. most of his books are horizontal. the holes go straight through. there must have been a reason that specifically was shown to us. 3 shots were fired after the brother was killed. two holes close grouping in the book. I also found it strange that two rotting corpses, and 4 gunshots went unnoticed. To me it suggested at first, he actually did kill his prankster brother (the rope) and his friend, with the book acting as a silencer. Then he turned himself in, saying that they had killed each other, and the whole movie up to police holding cell, was the statement he gave to the police.
i think ill need to watch it again.
Were the holes in the book from bullets? It takes an almighty leap of the imagination to think that the bullets went into the book which was laid flat in a pile, AND through the eyes of the character on the cover (front and back?). I suspect the book intentionaly has holes in it, a la 'The Hungry Catapillar'. He did seem to like childrens books anyway. (Is the 'Last Lizard' a real book?)
Unless the scenes in the police station are also imaginary (and Kenji died either by hanging himself, in the beginning, or at the hand of his brother's buddy), the scenes at Noi's house cannot be imaginary. The knife that Kenji contemplated using to slit his wrists in Noi's kitchen the first morning she was there is clearly shown in the spread of his possessions at the police station.
I'd have to look again at all the belongings shown spread out on the table - are each of them implements that he considered killing himself with? That might indicate that he did die when he jumped out his window.
I don't think he could have used the book as a silencer and had it come out looking the way it did, but I agree with you about the weird orientation of the bullet holes - unless Jon's bullets ricocheted off the ceiling and went through the cover of the book "just so" - which seems unlikely.
I have to agree with the above comments that he does not actually meet up again with Noi and the Osaka sequence is his imagination. This is hinted at in the scene with Noi at the airport sitting on a chair; there is a massive television screen that displays rolling credits. I take this to mean it is the end of their interaction and relationship. There is a lot of sublety in this film, including the soundtrack, all of which make it a gorgeous film.
shareIn the scenes of him in custody, Kenji is smoking a cigarette as if he's a smoker. Earlier in the film, when he is with Noi, it's established that he is definitely not a smoker--he takes a puff and coughs like crazy. So this, together with the blue-grey palette and the rolling credits on the screen in the airport (as pointed out by gem gurl, above) leads me to think that the scenes of him in custody are in his imagination or not "real." Did he die trying to escape from the yakuzas and then imagine a future with Noi from the custody of death? Much as I would hope not, probably. Man, oh man, I will have to watch this again and again, which will not be hard to do. Even then, I think we can never know exactly what's really real in life--is it all a dream? Could that be the point?
shareHe wasn't smoking a cigarette with Noi, it was a joint. And if you've ever seen someone take a first drag ever of marijuana, you'll realize they usually end up coughing their brains out. A cigarette is much easier to handle.
shareThank you. I stand corrected. It ocurred to me after my earlier post that it may have been a joint in the scene with Noi . . . Still, I don't recall his smoking in any scene other than in the police station scene, where he is smoking in a way that is uncharateristic of how he had been up to that scene. Do you happen to recall when it was that he was seen with a tattoo on his back (or am I imagining this?)--was it prior to the police station scene? It is as if he had been transformed into a yakuza from the "crazy brother" of the yakuza who was his brother, which would make it seem that he had died after jumping out the bathroom window, as Noi sat waiting for him at the airport. He lives on in the influence he had on Noi, as we see in her transformed self much later in Osaka. Or maybe he lived . . . In any event, the ambiguity of the ending is wonderful (and maddening ;-) ).
shareThere's nothing in the film that suggests to me that the film ends with anything but Kenji in a police cell, having recently been picked up by the police (and in all probability about to face a life sentence for at least one murder). He will never see Noi again. It's a measure of how affecting the film is that a lot of people are willing there to be a happy ending reunion where there won't be one.
All the "Kenji's imagination" scenes are clearly signposted as such: his picturing his suicide; his fantasising about Noi in her new life. I find the fact that he's smoking at the end very sweet - the only material, physical connection he can have with her anymore.
I got the impression that the scene with Noi in Japan is a 'flash-forward' of a scene that will actually take place, but of course it is open to interpretation.
shareWhat I am lost on is...
How could he have gone to prison if he HAD jumped out the window? It's quite a ways down, and I doubt he could have survived.
I rule out that he survived, based on this.
So I think that he either, as someone said, interestingly, died in the "beginning," or he was just "wishing," as the chapter title says, of what were to happen.
This is kinda on a different note, but do you think his beginning talk about reincarnation and death being a rest has any connection to the end?
[deleted]
Matthew-M - This is my interpretation as well. Many scenes in the movie are just imagined by our protagonist: his own hanging (including the reaction of the people who find him), the dead sister sleeping in his lap (wet dream), the reunion with Noi (the wish or how it would have ended if Hollywood made it). The last actual scenes of the movie are Kenji in jail (why else the sound of the police sirens if he were just plunging to his death or is going to be caught by the Yakuza) and Noi sitting in the airport faithfully waiting for him (remember he told her to wait). Good film -- must watch again.
shareI heard the sounds of sirens right when the Yakuza went into the bathroom, so there is a possiblility that he might have fell on something outside and survived the fall. I think that if he actually died he would have been thinking about the reunion scene with Noi, and not being in jail so I think he actually went there.
Now that someone mentioned the bullet holes in the book, I wonder if Kenji did use the book as a silencer to off his brother's "friend." You see the friend shoot brother, he sees Kenji, secene fades to black. You hear two shots ring off and then you hear 2 different sounding gunshots sounding muffled.
The holes in the book were the eyes of the buddha on the cover, so I think that's the way the book was made- its a gimmicky book that was carefully organized with the everything else. The apartments you see outside had balconeys, so I think its likely he safely climbed down. I noticed he was in a police station, not "jail." Unless he was wanted for previous crimes, I think its likely he would be let go (after giving testimony, etc, etc)
shareI just saw Kenji's Tattoo on his back the first time when he bash Jon (Noi's boyfriend)
shareYeah, Kenji clearly also has a yakuza past. In Japanese society, it's frowned on to get a full-back tattoo unless you are a gangster, because those tattoos are so closely associated with gangsters. The American DVD cover describes him as "mysterious" - I think it's meant as character development to suggest why he might be living an isolated (but seemingly pretty comfortable) life in Thailand, keeping to himself and contemplating suicide. At the beginning of the movie it seems like he's just an introverted dork; the tattoos suggest that he actually has a past that he's running from.
share