The Strange Phenomenon of Timing: A24’s Past Lives Connects Us to Our Present
Have you ever met someone that totally changed your trajectory in life? You could be on the right track, in your dream city, working your dream job, when suddenly, you meet this someone out of nowhere, and from then on, your whole world magically becomes a new one. If you’ve ever felt this way or want to know what it feels like, I want you to find some downtime and watch Celine Song’s Past Lives. I swear, you won’t regret it, and after you’ve watched it, I guarantee you’ll slowly be in touch with the world around you. You’ll find love in the crevices of streets, in the warmth of strangers around you, and in local spots that you find yourself safe in. After you’ve watched it, you’ll laugh and cry, and you might even call your mom to say that this is one of the best films you’ve ever watched in your 20-something-year-old life. After it all, you’ll feel the sense of connection and longing and the mere absurdity of looking through someone else’s shoes.
A24, as a film company, is of course known for its dramatic, heartfelt, and eccentric pieces enfolded with snippets of fact, myth, and just personal offbeat stories. I think that our generation has a way of interpreting these stories, making them our own once we’ve finished one of their films. Luckily enough, again, I’ve moved to another city, while watching Celine Song’s directorial debut, and I kid you not, I’ve never felt so connected to a film before. Past Lives is a story about connection, culture, distance, love, and fate. It compels you to think about those you love and even dream about those you’ve never met. You’ll be thinking about all those “what ifs” entangled with notions of loss and yearning. All in all, in the most cheesiest way, you’ll feel obligated to tell the people you love… “I love you.”
Nora and Hae Sung, who are the main characters of this film, are two deeply connected childhood friends. At the start of the film, there is much forbidden and vulnerable chemistry between the two, and although they’re both so young, their parents know that they hold the most special bond. Nora’s family soon emigrates from South Korea to the United States and both of their worlds are changed forever. Years later, after a few trials with long-distance happenings, changing identities, and roads taken and not taken, Nora and Hae Sung are finally reunited in the flesh for one fateful week in New York City. During this week, however, Nora is already married to Arthur Zaturansky, another writer she has met and fallen in love with during an old retreat. Hae Sung, who has no girlfriend and who is seeking out something at the moment, wants to see Nora, and simply, goes out to meet Nora.
Now, I don’t want to spoil anymore for you, but I wanted to talk about why this film is both euphoric and unlike any film I’ve ever seen before. Celine Song crafts this film with the most subtleness and preciseness in dialogue, music, narrative, and setting. There are moments in the camera that seem to stand still and stretch over time, even if the scene takes place in only one singular setting. Song magically breathes dialogue in transitions, pauses, and big, noteworthy moments. Sometimes, you feel like you are holding your breath, and other times, it feels like the characters themselves are doing it for you. I guess it’s true when they say that you’ll connect to a movie more if you’ve been through a similar circumstance, but, with this particular film, I think that the director gives her audience time to think about something other than themselves for a bit…
Song, as a South Korean-Candian writer/director also implements the beauty of the migrant experience. It was laid out for the audience, and regardless of an audience member’s background, there felt room to always empathize with the characters and their dreams, goals, and desires.
As Song notes that there is a personal take to this whole story, one can definitely see how her Korean roots were present and notable throughout the whole of this film. Along with the blueprint regarding the migrant experience, Song is able to encapsulate the feeling of “longing” and “hoping” through the brilliant cinematography in the film. There seems to be warmth and familiarity in this segment of “childhood love” and “adult love.” There is this crazy innocence in finding yourself even if you think you’ve been found. Essentially, Song paints a beautiful trajectory intertwined with saddened hope in the loss of someone you once loved in the past.
In a section of the movie, Nora talks about “in-yun” a Korean concept meaning “fate that connects people” or a “special bringing of people together who meant a lot to each other in their past lives.” This alluring word is present throughout the movie and is strategically brought up with Nora’s husband, Arthur. What I find fascinating about this movie is Nora’s outlook when it comes to someone coming from her same background. With Hae Sung, as a former childhood lover and good Korean friend, she displays how there will always be some type of connection there (cultural and through knowing someone for that long). Arthur on the other hand, becomes somewhat jealous but simultaneously, understanding of the two’s cosmic relationship. With an outside force that can’t be explained thoroughly, an audience member can definitely feel uncomfortable but also inclined to see the good in Nora’s husband Arthur. Ultimately, human emotions are present—Song doesn’t shy away from the rawness of that sentiment.
Similar to a slow burn, in the most exceptional way, Song puts the audience into a wave of emotions in the most simple nature. There are moments of cultural identity shockwaves, but also questions regarding the most simple truths of our day-to-day lives. Past Lives is a film that will make you think about your present life immeasurably. You will think about heartbreak, opportunity, longing, and this sense of feeling “okay” even when you are not “okay.” Song crafts a vulnerable and honest truth in a bite-sized treat for all walks of life to see. Primarily, with this movie’s spellbinding timing, you are put on a rollercoaster of love, and in the meantime, when you feel like you are on top of the world, you will remember that one person who broke your heart a long, long, time ago. You will feel empathy for those around you, especially those who are somewhat yearning during this offbeat season of love… You will see the good in people that you hardly even talk to, you will find light in the darkest of places, and in a comforting way, you will feel at home with the people who are presently around you even if you can’t physically see them. Time and distance, as a term, will be new to you again, and you’ll think about this movie for a few days straight. You’ll be thinking about your own fate and the little things that make up destiny. For now, as I finish writing this segment, I want you all to close your eyes and think about the strange, beautiful, and intense phenomenon of timing amid it all. Past Lives, Nora and Hae Sung, and Celine Song, are guaranteed to make you feel it all.
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“My wish, if you see this movie, is that it takes you on a journey within yourself: to all the places you might have gone, or the places you’ve been without even realizing it, or the places you feel maybe, perhaps inexplicably, you’ve been in another life.”
- Celing Song