By Marc S. Sanders
Facebook is a blessing and a curse for me. It sustains a social media addiction that’s been hard to crack. Fortunately, I never signed up for X (or Twitter), Instagram, My Space, or Snap Chat. So, I can’t necessarily be as bad as other peers I know who are bringing on early arthritis by grasping their androids and iPhones to keep up with twenty different apps all at the same time. The best thing to come out of Facebook, though, is access to reach across the planet and catch up with people of my past, from elementary school to high school, to college and past occupations. Regularly, I speak to Israel, Australia, Canada, England, France and South America, as well as about thirty to thirty-five states. Celine Song is a new writer/director who springs off the social media craze to cover a twenty-four-year span between a South Korean girl and boy.
At age 12, Nora (Greta Lee) chooses to emigrate to Canada, and once she reaches her early twenties, she’s a budding playwright in New York City. Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is sad to see his friend go off to begin a new life while he remains in Seoul, eventually enlisting in the army followed by becoming an engineer.
After twelve years apart, they curiously find one another on Facebook and get hooked on Face Timing each other during every waking opportunity. It’s no matter that the time difference doesn’t ideally accommodate both of them. They are happy to forgo sleep to keep up. The problem is their future ambitions and lack of funds prevent them from seeing one another personally. Alas, there’s only so much substance to their rekindled romance that began as affectionate puppy love in middle school so many years ago. Nora announces she’s ending the activity as it is time to move on.
Another twelve years pass. Nora is married to Arthur (John Magaro, so memorable in The Big Short). Hae Sung has just broken up with a girlfriend and opts to meet up with Nora for a visit to The Big Apple.
I know reader. It appears as if I’ve recounted the entire film, but honestly I have not. The magic of Past Lives does not thrive off the next story development. Its strength falls within the various conversations that occur between the three characters. Three quarters of this film is spoken in Korean, and an emotional tug latches on to you.
My father and I were once waiting in the terminal of LaGuardia Airport, and we could not help but observe and conjure up made up backgrounds of the different walks of life who passed us by. Celine Song wisely seats these three characters at a bar – two South Koreans and just off to the side is the melancholy Jewish guy. Voiceovers begin to hypothesize what’s the story behind these individuals. Initially, I was not even sure if there was a connection. Maybe one of the three is an extra. Then, the film opts to show us who is who and what is really happening here. Who is talking, who is listening and what could the topic of conversation actually be.
I could never do justice by describing the near poetic and yet genuine dialogue that Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur deliver. Sometimes it consists of what if scenarios. There’s time to allegorically consider a Korean legend that comes from degrees of different generational connections.
The best caption of the piece is when Celine Song aims her cameras at a fork within the pathways of Seoul, South Korea. On the right, one character takes a flight of stairs. On the left is a walkway going slightly west. The two children will likely never see or speak to one another again once they say goodbye and follow down a separate route. It’s heartbreaking, and this is only in the first ten minutes of the movie.
Separation will alter relationships as well. Nora learns to speak English. Hae Sung relies on his Korean. For him to even respond to Arthur is near impossible as much as they respect the value each man has in Nora’s life. It will always be awkward among these three. Nora can have a conversation with either man out loud, but any given moment one of the men will never comprehend the context of the discussions.
There’s an impossible outcome for Nora, Arthur and Hae Sung, and what is so relatable is that I believe a situation like this affects many of us. We all go on different trajectories in life that require us to shed portions of our past. We can reminisce and reflect. We can collect updates of those who have long been gone. Yet, we can never get back what we once treasured, and I believe that is the sad, but true point of Past Lives. We can only find comfort in memories while fantasizing over what could have been if I didn’t move away or I chose not to become an engineer, or I opted to marry or not marry.
Celine Song’s debut film succeeds with a very sensitive script built on genuine emotions of love, fear, loss and inner conflict. It’s a special gift that she cast her piece with three actors who treat the dialogue with kid gloves. Sometimes, before anyone speaks or says another word, there’s a silence, and you’ll find that you can still hear what Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro are saying to themselves. Past Lives is one of those films that asks you to read between the lines. Fortunately, Celine Song doesn’t make the challenge that difficult because the filmmaker reins you in as quickly as her story begins. When it ends, though, it’s much harder to let go.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 