fluorescent chaos

Past Lives

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First published:

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Directed by Celine Song
Written by Celine Song

Starring

Greta Lee
Teo Yoo
John Magaro

Release dates
January 21, 2023 (Sundance)
June 2, 2023 (United States)

Past Lives is a 2023 American romantic drama film written, which was one of my favourite films of 2023. Past Lives is directed by Celine Song in her feature directorial debut, and starts Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro in the lead roles. It follows two childhood friends over the course of 24 years while they contemplate the nature of their relationship as they grow apart, living different lives. The plot is semi-autobiographical and inspired by real events from Song’s life. Past Lives was recognised with a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, amongst other award nominations.

Past Lives | Official Trailer HD | A24

Past Lives is a beautiful, bittersweet story of unrequited love, full of lovely storytelling, wonderful performances with a quiet intense chemistry between Greta Lee and Ten Yoo, and an incredibly heartfelt ending. Beginning with their childhood friendship and travelling into their early adulthood lives, Na Young (Nora) and Hae Sung lives split apart and follow different paths, and then drift past each other again. Through a series of circumstance, chance encounters, poor timing, and an almost stubborn inability to recognise and follow-through on their feelings, Nora and Hae Sung float through their different lives finding love, disappointments, and life’s bittersweet realities. Eventually they confront each other again, possibly in hopes, expectations, fears to try and understand what their relationship means to each other. I was left wondering whether their young lives were imprinted with an inevitable destiny they had been unable to grasp.
A happiness and a love for each other feels inevitable as the forces that have kept them apart. As the film is semi-autobiographical, we can surmise that the conclusion is set in a sphere of Celine Song’s life reality, excepting that screenplays can take many artistic liberties in their storytelling. Past Lives make me wonder about those moments in our lives where we didn’t take the detour that may have materialised into a different life and what that could have looked like. We look back and wonder if that was the past life I should have taken, but living in the past through the lens of hindsight is a distorted view, because life is wonderfully bittersweet. It makes me think a future life momentarily brushed past, waiting for the opportunity to appear as the next life.
While reflecting on the film, the following line from the 2007 song “Slow Show” from The National floods back to the forefront of my mind. Different lyrics in the song have found different meaning for me today, to when I first listened to it more than 15 years ago. The lines of the song has been following me around for many years. In this case, it creates a connection with the film, in the the destiny of our lives … a destiny that may float aimlessly through our past and future, in and out of our lives like a double helix … presenting another opportunity or forever disappearing. In the short time since watching the film last year, life has changed and finds me on a different path and now represents a beautiful past life … keeps me waiting and hoping for that next life as another life rushes past … wondering if it will fulfil another destiny before the universe envelops us in a deep peace.
I wanna hurry home to you
Put on a slow, dumb show for you and crack you up
So you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
God, I’m very, very frightened, I’ll overdo it

…

You know I dreamed about you
For twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for, for twenty-nine years
“Slow Show”, The National

“Slow Show”, The National

Film Synopsis

In 2000, Seoul, South Korea, Na Young and Hae Sung are 12-year-old classmates who develop feelings for one another and go on a date set up by their parents. Shortly thereafter, Na Young’s family immigrates to Toronto and the two lose contact. Na Young changes her name to Nora Moon.
Twelve years later, in 2012, Hae Sung has finished his military service and Nora has moved to New York City. One day, Nora discovers on Facebook that Hae Sung had posted that he was looking for Na Young, unaware of her name change. They reconnect through video calls but are unable to visit each other, as Nora plans to attend a writer’s retreat in Montauk and Hae Sung is moving to China for a Mandarin language exchange. Eventually, Nora tells Hae Sung they should stop talking for a while, as she wants to focus on her writing and life in New York. At her retreat, Nora meets Arthur Zaturansky and they fall in love. Hae Sung also meets a woman, whom he begins to date.
Twelve more years pass, with Arthur and Nora married and living in New York. Hae Sung, no longer with his girlfriend, goes to meet Nora there. Arthur wonders if he is a roadblock in their own imperfect love story, admitting to Nora that he harbored suspicions that Nora married him to secure a green card for U.S. residency. Nora affirms that she loves Arthur. The following night, the three go out to dinner. Initially, Nora translates each dialogue, but eventually speaks with Hae Sung exclusively in Korean. He wonders what they were to each other in their past lives, and what would have happened if she had never left South Korea and they stayed together. When Nora goes to the bathroom, Hae Sung apologizes to Arthur for speaking alone with Nora, but Arthur says he is glad to have met him.
They return to Arthur and Nora’s apartment. Hae Sung invites them to visit him in South Korea and calls for an Uber. Nora waits with him, and the two exchange long, meaningful looks at each other until the Uber arrives. Hae Sung wonders whether they were, at that moment, experiencing a past life, and asks Nora what their relationship will be in their next life. She says she does not know. Hae Sung says, “I’ll see you then.” He leaves in the car and she walks back to her apartment, crying in Arthur’s arms.