One of the most deeply affecting films in competition at 2023’s Berlinale tells a story of diasporic love spanning two continents, and nearly half a lifetime.
★★★★✰
This fantastic feature debut from Celine Song tells the twenty-odd-year story of two childhood sweethearts from Korea, Nora and Hae Sung. The pair (initially played by Moon Seung-ah and Seung Min Yim respectively as adolescents, and later by Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) share a friendly, but distinctly un-romantic, bond as classmates until one day Nora abruptly emigrates with her family to Canada. In her absence, Hae Sung immediately begins to pine over what could have been between the two of them.
Years later Nora, now a writer living in New York, gets back in touch with Hae Sung through social media and the two passionately rekindle their relationship via Skype. Once again the two don’t stay in touch for long, but no matter how often their paths diverge they seem to always be drawn back towards one another. The time never seems right, but perhaps they share what Koreans call inyeon (인연); the concept that certain people are just destined to be together, that they’ve met somewhere before, in a past life.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is evoked early on, with both films using time jumps to depict a complicated relationship between kindred spirits and presenting a rich and layered bond between the protagonists. Another point of comparison is Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, with Nora and Nae Sung’s time together always unhurried but painfully finite.
Rather impressively for a debut, the film has an overwhelming air of autobiography to it. Exactly how much of the tale is drawn from Song’s own life isn’t clear, but the filmmaking itself undoubtedly comes from a place of authenticity, and is all the stronger for it.
Confident but unshowy filmmaking allows the story to unfold gently and with grace. Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen provide a soft and wistful score that captures the excitement of what could be, but also hints towards a sense of regret over lost time. Particular props should be given to cinematographer Shabier Kirchner and editor Keith Fraase, who confidently set the tone with a series of montages that give the story a powerful momentum. In these sequences the camera is almost always in motion, at moments simply upping the pace of the proceedings, but at others delicately reminding us that time is slipping away from Nora and Nae Sung.
Eventually Hae Sung visits Nora in New York, with their reunion complicated by the presence of Nora’s American husband Arthur (John Magaro). It’s in this final act that Greta Lee and Teo Yoo finally reveal what powerful chemistry they have together—so good, in fact, that Nora’s husband feels rather awkwardly placed beside them. The dynamic thankfully works for the film, with Arthur being all too aware that, if this were all a film, he would be the cuckold. Past Lives makes ample fun of this dynamic, the joke being that this is a film we would be more than eager to watch.
The Verdict
Past Lives is a confidently made and deeply felt drama about diasporic love. Celine Song has announced herself as a powerful new filmmaker with a distinctly personal touch.
Word by Jake Abatan
This film was reviewed as part of our coverage of Berlinale 2023. You can read the rest of our coverage here.
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