What makes us fall in love with someone? Do opposites really attract or do people with common interest realize they’re not the best suited? Do people ever wonder about the “one who got away?” Or do they feel they just “settled” for someone because their biological clock was ticking or didn’t think someone else would come around?
I have friends and acquaintances who have had bad luck with relationships. Others have remained mostly single well into their 40s. And then there are those that met as young kids and are still going strong today, 20-30 years later. What is it? In Korean beliefs, there’s In-Yun where as two people who have an attraction or interaction in their present lives also had something similar in their past lives, this is why they get along so well.
Past Lives is the feature directorial debut of Celine Song, who also wrote the screenplay, based on some elements of her actual life. Na Young (Seung Ah Moon) and Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim) are classmates in South Korea in the late 1990s. They are both 12 and have a mutual attraction to each other. Their parents set up a date for them, but Na Young’s family is moving to Toronto very soon and her mother wants her to have something to remember him. In Canada, Na Young changes her name to Lenore or Nora for short and her family’s surname is now Moon.
Twelve years later, Nora (Greta Lee) has moved to New York City to become a writer. Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is just finishing up his military service and planning to go to China to study Mandarin. But since Nora’s father is a popular filmmaker, Hae Sung sends a message on a Facebook post of her father’s latest movie that he’s searching for her under her old Korean name. They reconnect on social media and Skype every day regardless of the time difference.
But there’s a problem. Neither one can travel to the other’s country for at least a year. And Nora suggests they take some time apart for a while. Hae Sung isn’t too keen but in one painful scene he tells her they were just friends but you can see he’s feeling like he’s being dumped again. She later attends a retreat where she meets Arthur (John Magaro). They become friendly and them romantically involved. And they eventually marry even though it’s mentioned that it was done kind of so Nora could have a green card.
But this causes Arthur to wonder if Nora really loves him as much as he loves her. Another 12 years pass and Hae Sung is finally making the trip to New York City. He’s just broken up with his girlfriend and there’s an innocent way he looks at his reflection in water before he meets Nora at a park. Their interaction finally seeing each other in person is both tender and awkward as they seem to both search for the right words to say.
They spend some time together, taking a boat ride and walking around to an amusement park, recollecting. Anyone who would see them in public would just assume they are a couple, instead of friends.
She can tell that he still loves her, but does she really love him the way he does. Arthur had told her that he’s coming to America just to see her and she sees this after they first meet. Later all three go out and there’s even more awkwardness as Nora and Hae Sung speak in Korean as Arthur sits a few feet away. Their seating at the restaurant isn’t jut so Nora and Hae Sung can speak but also to show how she is stuck between the two men. And it’s filmed in a way where Arthur is off-screen so that we forget he’s there as they joyously talk in Korean.
Nora loves Arthur but she obviously has feelings for Hae Sung but she’s worrying if she made the right decision with Arthur. She tells Hae Sung her and Arthur have fought a lot. Yet there obviously was an attraction with Arthur initially and she’s remained with him for all these years. All three actors manage to made their characters seem like real people and their dialogue is real.
This is probably one of the most honest and realistic portrayals of relationships and the complications of them I’ve seen in movies. This isn’t some silly romcom where people spend 75 percent of the movie not liking each other and then discovering they do. Hae Sung doesn’t speak good English and there’s indication he wants to stay in South Korea and that Nora has no desire to return to South Korea. Sometimes, it’s the way things are.
You can have a great time on a date but what happens when the date ends that helps define a relationship. Song manages to show that relationship take work and there might have been some doubt that Nora had to want to stop talking to Hae Sung for years. Lee and Yoo have great chemistry and it’s perfect casting as they both seem to shine when they’re together. It’s a shame neither was nominated for an Oscar even though the movie was nominated for Best Picture and Song was nominated for the Original Screenplay.
This is a great movie and I’m sure writers and actors will study it for many years to come.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 