Kirsty Meers Reviews Past Lives at Borderlines Film Festival

Past Lives is an honest, tender and authentic directorial debut from Celine Song. In three beautiful acts, Song explores a tale of reconnection between two childhood sweethearts, separated when one family emigrates to North America. Loosely based on Song’s own life, we follow the central protagonist Nora (Greta Lee) from her childhood in Korea, to living alone in New York, fulfilling her dream of being a playwright. The audience sees the world of the film through the eyes of Nora, and by extension, Song. Nora is a meticulously crafted female protagonist, who feels less like an icon and more like a friend. She is an ambitious, career driven woman, who, at every opportunity, chooses to follow her dreams rather than lovers. Following an evening of looking up old friends on Facebook, Nora stumbles across a message from her childhood best friend / first love, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), reaching out to reconnect. The film follows their reconnection, disconnection, and final reunion, empathetically exploring themes of fate, love and ambition. 

It is hard to believe that this is Celine Song’s first feature film; it presents itself as a movie made by someone who has honed their film-making talent over a long career. The script writing is restrained but intentionally so, putting emphasis on what is there, leaving space for silence to say more than words ever can. Accompanied by lingering cinematography from Shabier Kirchner, the awkward, emotional distance between Hae Sung and Nora is revealed through the masterful use of long focal lengths to create space for the unsaid. The film is beautifully shot, each frame truly considered making it a genuine pleasure to watch. 

Although the film is a visual and auditory treat, what stood out for me was the deeply empathetic character writing. By the time Nora and Hae Sung meet again, Nora is married to Arthur (John Magaro), a fellow writer, setting up what could easily be a melodramatic love triangle. Despite spending much of the film rooting for Nora and Hae Sung, Arthur does not become an antagonist for us to hate. It would be an easy trope to play into, but the fact that Song doesn’t even let this become a possibility, is perhaps what makes this film so wonderful. Arthur is written naturally and compassionately, and he is easy to relate to. He is of course worried about Hae Sung’s arrival back into his wife's life, but what comes across is a sense of maturity. The levels of maturity within this film are, to me, what makes it so realistic and relatable - these are all just adults, figuring out what is right for them in this life. Captured in ‘candid’ moments, like when Arthur and Nora pillow talk, we get a true impression of their love and the compassion in their relationship.

Past Lives is a thoughtful, introspective, and hopeful film, with stunning cinematography and empathetic character writing, making it a real gem. The messy realism will certainly strike a chord with many, poising questions to the audience about their own lives and loves making us reconsider our ‘past lives’.