Past Lives (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Written & directed by newcomer Celine Song, 'Past Lives' is a dreamy romantic drama about childhood friendship, the passage of time, identity, longing, finding closure, and life's most potent question ... "what if?" The movie follows childhood friends, Nora & Hae Sung, who, circa age 12, were smitten with each other back in Seoul, South Korea. But any burgeoning feelings for each other are halted when Nora's family decides to emigrate to Canada; their farewell feels finite. 12 yrs. later, Nora (Greta Lee) is a writing student in NYC & Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is still in Seoul. Through Facebook, they reconnect & develop a nebulous online romance. They are happy to 'see' each other again, but when neither can commit to meeting in-person, they cool it.
Another 12 yrs. go by {now they're 36} and, Hae Sung - after working in Korea's military - decides to visit NY to finally see Nora again. Though Nora is looking forward to this union, she IS happily married now to fellow writer, hipster Arthur (John Magaro). Arthur trusts his wife ... mostly. And now reunited for this one fateful week, Nora & Hae Sung - who are clearly attracted to each other & lovingly reminisce about days of old - are at a crossroads; forced to confront notions of destiny & the choices that are made to make a life for one's self. Quiet, yet palpable moments ensue leading to a simultaneously heartrending & cathartic final scene.
Like a fly on the wall, we observe these lead characters as children {when their affection was purely innocent}, as 24 yr. olds {students thrilled to have re-connected long-distance}, & the 36 yr. olds who have lived enough of life to know that, perhaps, their time to be together has passed them by ... maybe. The passage of time has changed their feelings of love, but 'something' is still there. Is it regret? Is it resignation? Is it longing for a life that wasn't lived? 'Past Lives' looms over our emotions as a sort of modern-day Brief Encounter - the swoony romantic classic from 1946.
Filmmaker Celine Song gives us an exceedingly watchable, fairly involving drama here that captured my attention & gripped me for the stomach-fluttering final 20 minutes, and yet, there is a deliberate spareness of plot happenstance & dialogue that somewhat flattened the emotional impact, for me. Many people have been staggeringly moved by this movie. I was moved, just not staggered; and I wanted to be. Perhaps that is due to Celine Song's reliance, in her script, to emphasize small-talk conversations which, while revelatory for ample characterizations, don't open-up into the kind of full-throttled, transcendent romantic disclosures which would have truly rocked my world. The emotions DO wash over us without us even realizing how much the conversations are affecting ... it just doesn't wallop.
No fault can be found in the acting, as the main trio is luminous in their portrayals. There are no heroes or villains, just people trying to be pragmatic & earnest. Greta Lee & Teo Yoo convey their turbulent inner struggles & graceful emotions with only the slightest of glances, facial tics & clipped dialogues. Great Lee, in particular, shows great subtlety in the way she modulates how slightly differently she acts around her husband, versus Hae Sung. Teo Yoo is also effective in a different way than Greta. Yes, he is short-spoken, but still warm & inviting, with large eyes that well-up with tears of such sweetness. And his hesitations to fully disclose his innermost feelings makes us lean-in even more; hoping to find cracks in his armor. And John Magaro impresses as husband, Arthur, who seems like an impediment to Greta & Hae Sung's rekindling, but really, he is most endearing & understanding.
Celine Song's nimble screenwriting + the lead actors culminate in an emotional final scene that is both devastating AND oddly satisfying. Greta Lee's Nora grapples with who she IS versus who she WAS and, her weighing the life she has chosen versus what might have been ... finally gets to her in the very end. Celine Song takes a contemplative look at identity, insight into the immigrant experience in NY, life's expectations and, again, the "what ifs" of life; the "what could have been's". What IF Nora never left Korea? What IF she & Hae Sung continued their online correspondence in their 20s? Would life have really been better for it? And does it actually matter? 'Past Lives' is a touching weepie that, I feel, needed a little more cinematic oomph to make its heartfelt ideas come to full life.
Another 12 yrs. go by {now they're 36} and, Hae Sung - after working in Korea's military - decides to visit NY to finally see Nora again. Though Nora is looking forward to this union, she IS happily married now to fellow writer, hipster Arthur (John Magaro). Arthur trusts his wife ... mostly. And now reunited for this one fateful week, Nora & Hae Sung - who are clearly attracted to each other & lovingly reminisce about days of old - are at a crossroads; forced to confront notions of destiny & the choices that are made to make a life for one's self. Quiet, yet palpable moments ensue leading to a simultaneously heartrending & cathartic final scene.
Like a fly on the wall, we observe these lead characters as children {when their affection was purely innocent}, as 24 yr. olds {students thrilled to have re-connected long-distance}, & the 36 yr. olds who have lived enough of life to know that, perhaps, their time to be together has passed them by ... maybe. The passage of time has changed their feelings of love, but 'something' is still there. Is it regret? Is it resignation? Is it longing for a life that wasn't lived? 'Past Lives' looms over our emotions as a sort of modern-day Brief Encounter - the swoony romantic classic from 1946.
Filmmaker Celine Song gives us an exceedingly watchable, fairly involving drama here that captured my attention & gripped me for the stomach-fluttering final 20 minutes, and yet, there is a deliberate spareness of plot happenstance & dialogue that somewhat flattened the emotional impact, for me. Many people have been staggeringly moved by this movie. I was moved, just not staggered; and I wanted to be. Perhaps that is due to Celine Song's reliance, in her script, to emphasize small-talk conversations which, while revelatory for ample characterizations, don't open-up into the kind of full-throttled, transcendent romantic disclosures which would have truly rocked my world. The emotions DO wash over us without us even realizing how much the conversations are affecting ... it just doesn't wallop.
No fault can be found in the acting, as the main trio is luminous in their portrayals. There are no heroes or villains, just people trying to be pragmatic & earnest. Greta Lee & Teo Yoo convey their turbulent inner struggles & graceful emotions with only the slightest of glances, facial tics & clipped dialogues. Great Lee, in particular, shows great subtlety in the way she modulates how slightly differently she acts around her husband, versus Hae Sung. Teo Yoo is also effective in a different way than Greta. Yes, he is short-spoken, but still warm & inviting, with large eyes that well-up with tears of such sweetness. And his hesitations to fully disclose his innermost feelings makes us lean-in even more; hoping to find cracks in his armor. And John Magaro impresses as husband, Arthur, who seems like an impediment to Greta & Hae Sung's rekindling, but really, he is most endearing & understanding.
Celine Song's nimble screenwriting + the lead actors culminate in an emotional final scene that is both devastating AND oddly satisfying. Greta Lee's Nora grapples with who she IS versus who she WAS and, her weighing the life she has chosen versus what might have been ... finally gets to her in the very end. Celine Song takes a contemplative look at identity, insight into the immigrant experience in NY, life's expectations and, again, the "what ifs" of life; the "what could have been's". What IF Nora never left Korea? What IF she & Hae Sung continued their online correspondence in their 20s? Would life have really been better for it? And does it actually matter? 'Past Lives' is a touching weepie that, I feel, needed a little more cinematic oomph to make its heartfelt ideas come to full life.