Films for Breakfast

The older that we get, the more we ponder the many what-if’s of our lifetime. What if I moved or didn’t move to a certain city? What if I didn’t meet a certain person that is now so important to me? What if I chose to pursue another career? In Celine Song’s directorial debut, Past Lives brilliantly and tenderly explores the what if’s of a woman’s emigration from South Korea and the childhood sweetheart she left behind. The film follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) throughout roughly three periods of their lives; their childhood, when they reconnect in their 20s in 2012, and in present day where the two are in their 30s and reunite for a week in New York City. During this reunion, they confront potential love, destiny, and the choices that brought them together and also pulled them apart. 

Past Lives is, simply put, one of the most staggering directorial debuts I’ve ever seen. Celine Song commands the screen with simultaneously a deeply personal and specific story, as well as tackling themes that feel so fundamentally universal and tender. One of the most interesting elements about Past Lives is how it’s several steps ahead of its audience and knows they already have an idea of where the story is going. It tells you almost immediately that this won’t be a typical “love triangle” story; it’s something much more human and poetic. Song disarms the audience from suspecting any form of melodrama from the get-go, and in turn paves way for something wholly unique and absolutely crushing. There’s such an inevitability to Nora and Hae Sung’s relationship that makes the pondering of their potential all the more poignant and truthful.

This is also largely in credit due to the two lead performances of Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, who share such remarkable chemistry with one-another. One of the most charming sequences in the film is an early sequence where the two reconnect over Skype in 2012 for the first time, and it absolutely nails the glitchiness of trying to connect with someone so far away. This section of the film just does a really excellent job at emphasizing their longing for one another, but also their inability to act upon their desire to find out if they’re actually meant for each other. Greta Lee turns in one of the best performances I’ve seen in quite some time, delivering a performance full of such restraint yet remarkable emotion all at the same time. Teo Yoo also delivers a heartbreaking performance, as in every sequence you can truly feel his regret yet a sense of distance that he puts up between the two of them. It feels so unbelievably real, and it couldn’t have been accomplished with lesser actors. 

The dynamic and central focus of Nora and Hae Sung’s relationship becomes even more complicated with the inclusion of Nora’s husband Arthur, played wonderfully by John Magaro, who is an early contender for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards next year in my eyes. Magaro brings such an unexpected warmth and humanity to the film, with one scene in particular where he and Nora lay in bed together discussing the many different possibilities of their lives if they had never met is particularly tender. Nora and Hae Sung’s chemistry and connection is undoubtedly palpable, but the love Arthur and Nora share for one another and the beauty of the life they built is felt in each and every sequence.

On a technical front, the film is absolutely incredible. The cinematography from DP Shabier Kirchner is so vibrant and full of life that every frame makes you want to pause the projector and admire the beauty and detail. Christopher Bear and Daniel Rosen (of Grizzly Bear fame) score the film, and I also believe this is a strong contender for the Academy Awards next year, as in every sequence I truly felt like they beautifully realized the emotions that Song was trying to convey and fit the mood absolutely perfectly. This is a score that will be added to my Spotify rotation immediately. 

By the end, it feels like Celine Song has crafted one of the most intricate depictions of love and love-lost that I think I’ve ever seen before. There is so much humanity and tenderness felt in every single interaction that the characters share with one-another, and the film wisely never feels like it has all the answers; so much of the nuance of the film is more within the questions themselves and not so much the finality of the answers we’re given. The final ten minutes in particular are especially harrowing and a huge gut-punch if you’re as invested as I was.

This is simply a work of art, and truly one of the years’ best films.

5/5