Scene analysis from Last life in the Universe
...he girl fixated on the man she believes about to kill himself, the man fixated on the girl he had spotted earlier in the day - before Nid is struck by a passing car and killed before the stunned eyes of both Kenji and Noi. The bulk of the film is then built around the relationship that develops between Noi and Kenji as these two people who are entirely alone in their worlds reach out to each other. The scene that I have chosen to analyze is in chapter seven, after Noi brings Kenji back to her very unkempt and messy house. Kenji is disturbed by the state of her surroundings, but he remains stoically polite and does not comment about it, although he is obviously perturbed. At his insistence, they go off to buy cleaning supplies (which he pays for) and go back to her house to clean it. Noi is amused by him, telling him that it is pointless to clean her house, since she will be leaving to go to Japan on Monday anyway. After we see Kenji and Noi bringing the cleaning supplies into the car, we cut to see Noi preparing to smoke a joint. We immediately go to the next scene, seeing the window decorations go in and out of focus. We presume we are looking through her eyes while she is a doped up state. The light in this scene is soft and fuzzy, and Noi just lies there on the couch staring aimlessly at her messy surroundings. We are not privy to her thoughts, so we can only assume that she is taking drugs to avoid thinking about her deceased sister. The music is slow and has only one or two notes playing, almost haunting and gives a feeling of loss. Suddenly, we see her eyes focus on something. A slip of paper is strangely animate, fluttering from side to side to move around her house. Curious, she gets up and follows its path through her house. She watches it wipe across her dusty mirror, leaving her to stare at her own reflection. As if clearer, she remembers about Kenji, and starts to look for him in her house. The music picks up faster as the items in her house gets organized. She calls for him repeatedly, but there isn’t any answer. It would seem like Kenji has vanished, or has become invisible. The camera is held at a distance from Noi, and we as the audience feel detached from her, yet we can feel her mild desperation at being left alone again. As she walks past her bookcase, all the magazines and books left strewn on the floor silently float up and rearrange their selves on the bookshelf neatly. She turns to look at it suspiciously, but there is no one there. Noi continues her search through the house, and now she sees the objects in her house floating past her, getting organized. The camera follows her ascension to the second floor of the house. Noi starts getting amused and the effects of her drugged state do not wear off. She stumbles into her room, where there is a whirlwind of activity. Objects are flying around her, and she laughs as she stands in the eye of the hurricane. Camera speed is slowed down at this point, and the only sound we can hear is the music, and nothing coming from Noi, although she is laughing wildly. Suddenly, she stops laughing and her sister’s disc man flies slowly across the screen, reminding her of her loss. She watches it leave, and then fix her eyes on another point. A picture frame containing a childhood picture of her and Nid, is floating towards her this time, and with trepidation, she reaches out to receive it, and finally deals with her sorrow. We do know that it is not possible for inanimate objects to fly about, that this scene is just a symbolization of Kenji efficient cleaning up of Noi’s house, and setting order to her chaotic life. This is more of a drug induced hallucination, and we are seeing things from Noi’s point of view. I feel that this is the crux in the film where everything settles down for Noi, as well as between Noi and Kenji as their friendship develops. Although Kenji is not present in this scene, his absence allows us to concentrate on Noi. Noi can also deal with her sister’s accident and take the first step in grieving properly for Nid. This scene shows a reflection of the way the two charact...