August 28, 2023
FILM: PAST LIVES
DIRECTED BY: CELINE SONG
STARRING: GRETA LEE, TEO YOO, JOHN MAGARO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Past Lives has been steadily building word of mouth since it played at the Sundance Film Festival back in February. The critical attention has been pretty rapturous and I can now understand why. Written and directed by Celine Song, this is a film packed with ideas about relationships that are beautifully and thoughtfully explored during its 105-minute running time.
We first meet Na Young and Hae Sung when they are 12 years old and living in South Korea. Nora is competitive and ambitious even at this young age. They are also deeply connected to each other until Nora and her family decide to immigrate to Canada. The narrative then jumps ahead 12 years during which time they’ve been estranged from each other. Thanks to Facebook and then Skype they are able to connect once again. Na Young is now living in America and taken on the name Nora. She is involved with Arthur, a fellow writer whom she curiously meets at an empty home for aspiring writers with doors and windows left wide open upon arrival. (Symbolic for the freedom they are being given to write and create?) Once again a period of disconnectedness begins between Nora and Hae Sung. The last and longest sequence of the film takes us ahead another 12 years. Nora and Arthur are married and Hae Sung, now an engineer, decides to visit Nora in New York.
There are elements of this story that might seem familiar to anyone who has seen Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy which picks up on two characters every nine years. The big difference here is that this is a much more quiet and contemplative stand-alone film. It doesn’t feature the same type of verbal emotional rollercoaster ride that Linklater takes his two characters on. Song suggests feelings are residing more internally with her characters and, thanks to the great performances by Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as Nora and Hae Sung, we develop a strong understanding of what they’re both going through emotionally without excess verbiage.
What also makes the characters and the film so interesting is that Song doesn’t let herself fall prey to any traditional romantic notions created by Hollywood. Yes, Nora and Hae Sung love each other but the roles they share in each other’s lives are more complex and realistic and take on a more 21st Century perspective on relationships. The men here are more outwardly emotional than Nora. She takes on the more stereotypically male role with her ambition and career decisions. It’s very refreshing and relevant to the lives a lot of young couples experience today.
The film also is thematically strong with its focus on the Korean concept of In-yun, which proposes that people are brought together by fate. It is also connected to Buddhism’s concept of reincarnation. As suggested in the film, two people may have had a past life where they brushed up against each other and may now play a more significant role in this life or in a future life. This may be why there is such a strong pull between Nora and Hae Sung. Yet, she has embraced her life in America while he remains bound to his own Korean culture. In other words, they may not have been fated to each other in this life. Of course, this brings up the notion of determinism. Are our lives pre-determined for us? Did Nora really have a choice to follow her career instead of Hae Sung or could she have made a different choice when she was younger? One can tell from Greta Lee’s nuanced performance that Nora thinks a lot about this. The life she has with Arthur was pretty logically conceived. In the end though, were her choices more practical than romantically based? Does she regret them?
Another way of considering the film’s title is the distinctive lives we all experience. Nora had a very different type of existence as a child in Korea than she does as an adult in New York. Since the film explores three periods in her life one can assume they might each represent their own specific life phase. Hence, she has already experienced at least two past lives in this life.
While the film might be more quiet and languid than the Before trilogy or even Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which gets a relevant referencing here, Song also makes up for it with some beautiful cinematography and a score which is lovely and somewhat romantic yet is just as complex as the film’s narrative is.
There’s no question that this is the type of film which will leave people thinking about their own life choices and how satisfied they might have been with other paths they could have taken (assuming you believe we all have free will rather than a pre-determined destiny.) Yet, according to the film, perhaps a future life may still provide those opportunities for us.
Past Lives will likely be a major player during the upcoming Oscar season and it deserves the attention. Be patient with it though and let its ideas seep in.
Past Lives will be screened tonight as part of the After Hours Film Society at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, Illinois. It is also now available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video.
FILM: PAST LIVES
DIRECTED BY: CELINE SONG
STARRING: GRETA LEE, TEO YOO, JOHN MAGARO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Past Lives has been steadily building word of mouth since it played at the Sundance Film Festival back in February. The critical attention has been pretty rapturous and I can now understand why. Written and directed by Celine Song, this is a film packed with ideas about relationships that are beautifully and thoughtfully explored during its 105-minute running time.
We first meet Na Young and Hae Sung when they are 12 years old and living in South Korea. Nora is competitive and ambitious even at this young age. They are also deeply connected to each other until Nora and her family decide to immigrate to Canada. The narrative then jumps ahead 12 years during which time they’ve been estranged from each other. Thanks to Facebook and then Skype they are able to connect once again. Na Young is now living in America and taken on the name Nora. She is involved with Arthur, a fellow writer whom she curiously meets at an empty home for aspiring writers with doors and windows left wide open upon arrival. (Symbolic for the freedom they are being given to write and create?) Once again a period of disconnectedness begins between Nora and Hae Sung. The last and longest sequence of the film takes us ahead another 12 years. Nora and Arthur are married and Hae Sung, now an engineer, decides to visit Nora in New York.
There are elements of this story that might seem familiar to anyone who has seen Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy which picks up on two characters every nine years. The big difference here is that this is a much more quiet and contemplative stand-alone film. It doesn’t feature the same type of verbal emotional rollercoaster ride that Linklater takes his two characters on. Song suggests feelings are residing more internally with her characters and, thanks to the great performances by Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as Nora and Hae Sung, we develop a strong understanding of what they’re both going through emotionally without excess verbiage.
What also makes the characters and the film so interesting is that Song doesn’t let herself fall prey to any traditional romantic notions created by Hollywood. Yes, Nora and Hae Sung love each other but the roles they share in each other’s lives are more complex and realistic and take on a more 21st Century perspective on relationships. The men here are more outwardly emotional than Nora. She takes on the more stereotypically male role with her ambition and career decisions. It’s very refreshing and relevant to the lives a lot of young couples experience today.
The film also is thematically strong with its focus on the Korean concept of In-yun, which proposes that people are brought together by fate. It is also connected to Buddhism’s concept of reincarnation. As suggested in the film, two people may have had a past life where they brushed up against each other and may now play a more significant role in this life or in a future life. This may be why there is such a strong pull between Nora and Hae Sung. Yet, she has embraced her life in America while he remains bound to his own Korean culture. In other words, they may not have been fated to each other in this life. Of course, this brings up the notion of determinism. Are our lives pre-determined for us? Did Nora really have a choice to follow her career instead of Hae Sung or could she have made a different choice when she was younger? One can tell from Greta Lee’s nuanced performance that Nora thinks a lot about this. The life she has with Arthur was pretty logically conceived. In the end though, were her choices more practical than romantically based? Does she regret them?
Another way of considering the film’s title is the distinctive lives we all experience. Nora had a very different type of existence as a child in Korea than she does as an adult in New York. Since the film explores three periods in her life one can assume they might each represent their own specific life phase. Hence, she has already experienced at least two past lives in this life.
While the film might be more quiet and languid than the Before trilogy or even Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which gets a relevant referencing here, Song also makes up for it with some beautiful cinematography and a score which is lovely and somewhat romantic yet is just as complex as the film’s narrative is.
There’s no question that this is the type of film which will leave people thinking about their own life choices and how satisfied they might have been with other paths they could have taken (assuming you believe we all have free will rather than a pre-determined destiny.) Yet, according to the film, perhaps a future life may still provide those opportunities for us.
Past Lives will likely be a major player during the upcoming Oscar season and it deserves the attention. Be patient with it though and let its ideas seep in.
Past Lives will be screened tonight as part of the After Hours Film Society at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, Illinois. It is also now available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video.