Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Chuck says:
I think many of us have been guilty of playing the “What if” game where our lives are concerned, the mulling over of the decisions we didn’t make and what might have happened if we had. What if I had married him or her, instead of the person I’m with now? What if I’d moved to Colorado instead of just staying here? What if I hadn’t taken that job that caused me to relocate? You can drive yourself crazy playing this game and I think it’s systematic of mid-life ponderings (not crises) that arise naturally when you’re in your 30’s or 40’s.
The Korean concept of In Yun speaks to this and is roughly translated as “providence.” It refers to the small connections we make during our lifetimes, and how they build and echo over time until we meet the person we are destined to be with, sometimes in another life. This is at the core of Celine Song’s beautiful, thoughtful new film “Past Lives,” a poignant look at two very close childhood friends who are separated at the age of 12 only to reconnect later, which prompts each to reconsider their lives while wondering what might have been between them.
Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are the couple in question, two fiercely independent people who, having met in grade school, maintain a deep emotional connection despite being separated by thousands of miles and long periods of time. We first meet them at the age of 12, classmates who compete in their studies and go on a single “date” just before Nora’s family immigrated from Korea to Canada. The good-bye they share is melancholy – and visually haunting – yet fate, in the shape of social media reunites them 12 years later. By this time, she is in New York City, struggling to become a playwright, he, just finishing college. Their Skype dates start off tentatively but soon become intense, so much so that Nora cuts them off, saying they have become too much of a distraction to her work. Devastated, Hae goes on but cannot shake the feelings he has for Nora. Yet, he respects her need for space, that is until another 12 years go by, and he contacts her, saying he is coming to New York and would like to see her.
Thankfully, Song does not adhere to a Hollywood formula as the third act plays out. What ensues is a quiet, meditative examination of the capriciousness of circumstance, the ramifications of compromise and the result of decisions through the lens of Nora’s present state. Ironically, it is her husband Arthur (John Magaro) who suggests that perhaps he is not Nora’s ideal partner. One of the film’s best moments finds the couple in bed, quietly discussing their history, him pointing out that convenience was a driving force in their relationship. That they were married, in part, so she could get a green card raises some doubt in his mind. When he meets Hae, his expression tells us everything.
The most refreshing aspect of “Lives” is the quiet, contemplative tone Song creates throughout. There are no intrusive strains of a cloying soundtrack to contend with nor any shots of the two principals yearning for one another with strained expressions. The realism with which this situation is rendered only makes it more moving. The conclusion Nora and Hae finally come to regarding their relationship doesn’t leave anyone unscathed. The idea of In Yun provides them with a degree of solace, as it may some in the audience. As with most things in life, timing is everything and fighting it is impossible.
3 1/2 Stars
