Reviewed - Last Life in the Universe (Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan): Like many romantic comedies, this wistful Thai drama focuses on the relationship between an uptight, repressed man and a disorganised, sexually liberated woman, writes Donald Clarke

Last Life may not bring any new insights to that dynamic, but it takes place in such a beautifully limpid world and drifts along at such a seductive pace that no sensible person should be able to resist it.

Kenji (Tadanobu Asano), a suicidal Japanese librarian with frighteningly anal domestic hygiene habits, finds himself at a loss when he ends up with two bodies - his hoodlum brother's and that of a friend - rotting in his flat. At about the same time he encounters the beautiful Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), an associate of lowlifes, and inadvertently contributes to her sister's death in a traffic accident. Unable to go home because of the nasty smell in the living room, Kenji moves into Noi's shabby house and the two, often speaking in pidgin English, begin something a bit like a romance.

Much of the praise for Last Life should be directed towards cinematographer Christopher Doyle who, showing his customary affection for shades of green, gives the film a clean, uncomplicated look that adds to the sense of dislocation. At times we appear to be in a dream world - the two principals occasionally appear as their siblings, books tidy themselves onto their shelves - and Doyle's gift for the otherworldly proves useful.

The film tends towards the elliptical at times, but in the final few scenes, it delivers an emotional payoff that should more than reward any viewer's earlier patience.