22.11.23
Whatever happens in life, for better or worse, never forget your roots. Past Lives is one of the year’s most pensive and introspective films. It shines in its emotional validity, slow storytelling and measured sound design which allows the actions and connections of the main characters to be fully ruminated.
The focus of Past Lives is a love triangle of sorts, concentrating on the ties from this lifetime and previous ones between Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur. Used in this way, the narrative device feels fully unique and appealing to me as an expat, but its themes are universal and heartfelt. The main actors wonderfully portray inner conflict and delight through small gestures and expressions. Greta Lee’s Nora, like my wife, could have stayed in Asia as most of her family did, but instead, I was lucky enough that she moved abroad to meet me. In that respect, Past Lives deserves recognition for allowing for a personal contemplation into love, fate and the morality of moving away from home in a way that just allowed me to have a greater appreciation for the real life I have, and the love within it.
Although a short film, there are many slow moments, deliberately so I think, like Nora moving into the resident retreat, walking around an empty house for a few minutes, unsure of what’s going on or what happens next. In Past Lives’ quiet parts, I sensed the leads’ inner yearning to connect. There is also an engaging role reversal between the shy Hae Sung and self-assured Nora, flipping gender stereotypes in Asian relationships.
A thoughtful and elegant study of human connection that deftly explores the complexities of modern love. Sadly, I do not feel there are many excellent films from the perspective of a woman with such intelligence, ambition and relatability all rolled into one, which is probably why Past Lives has achieved such acclaim over a large variety of audiences. At just 105 minutes with long takes, the editing must have been enormously challenging, but Celine Song and her team show such incredible maturity and insight for a debut. Hopefully, this teases confident visions which should promise more great things ahead with her filmography, and A24 yet again.