Past Lives revolves around the love story of three people: Nora, Hae Sung and Arthur. Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Yoo Teo) first met in Korea when they were 12 years old. They quickly became close and bonded like brothers. However, when Nora's family immigrated to Canada, the two had to part ways.
Years later, Nora (Greta Lee) is a successful screenwriter in New York, while Hae Sung (Yoo Teo) is still living in Korea and working at a publishing company. Time passes, Nora and Hae Sung reunite again when they are in their 30s, but this time, Nora is married to Arthur (John Magaro). When they meet again, Nora and Hae Sung realize that they still have a lot of feelings for each other. However, life has changed a lot since their separation.
"Past Lives", the cycle of karma
"I come later in a love I come first"
"Past Lives" brings a fresh perspective to the concept of "in-yeon" (인연, or fate in Vietnamese) through the troubled love story of Nora and Hae Sung. The drama begins with sweet memories of their childhood, when the two young people once had a beautiful friendship. However, life takes them on different paths, and when they meet again many years later, they realize that their feelings for each other are still intact. Nora and Hae Sung believed that they were destined to be together, but is that love strong enough to overcome geographical distance, culture, and different life choices?
"People will love people who are like them, or who they have become, or who they want to become."
During a short week in New York, Nora and Hae Sung had deep conversations about their childhood, their unfulfilled dreams, and their life choices. Questions about love, destiny, and the meaning of life were raised and answers sought. Each conversation had its own color, sometimes sweet, sometimes passionate, sometimes quiet, making the audience emotional. The silences between sentences were like ellipses, opening up space for the audience to freely contemplate and feel.
"Countless lives of love", we exist in this life because of countless previous lives
How regretful is it to be the right person at the wrong time?
It is the incompleteness of that love that creates the unique appeal of Past Lives. Both Yoo Teo and Greta Lee do their part to convey the extremely unique messages and emotions of this film to the audience. Nora is a modern, independent girl but also contains many thoughts and feelings inside. Meanwhile, the character Hae Sung scores with his innocent, kind but also extremely understanding and delicate personality.
When two strangers pass each other, there are "8,000 layers of fate"
"Old love comes without invitation" or "love triangle" are phrases that can be used to describe this story, but Past lives is not that simple. Because of the relationships between the characters in the film, the situations that the writer/director creates also bring to the audience wonderful contemplations about love and humanity, under the ironic but equally mysterious influence of the two words "fate".
A different cinematic language
Past lives captivates viewers from the very beginning when it opens through the perspective of an "outsider", a stranger passing by. The three main characters sit behind the bar and we begin to speculate about the relationship between the three. Director Celine Song tells the story as if she wants to eliminate all drama, but in fact secretly inserts "fate's jokes" that can cause stronger emotional turmoil than any argument, scream, or escape.
According to director Celine Song, Past Lives is a film "about three people trying their best to become adults."
Hae Sung's words in that scene were like a knife cutting into the viewer's heart. It not only revealed the character's feelings but also evoked deep thoughts about love, sacrifice and human limitations. "I really can't imagine loving your husband would be this painful." Hae Sung's words were like a sigh, touching the hidden corners of the viewer's heart. It not only revealed the character's secret pain but also evoked concerns about love, about the complexity of the relationship between three people.
Past lives is not a film of empty dialogues or excessive actions. This is a slow, gentle film filled with simple everyday situations and romantic dialogues and actions that are very moderate. Every line and every action of the character is meticulously cared for, creating a picture of true and profound emotions.
The director shared: "This is a film without dramatic confessions, without tears and without villains. But that does not mean the film lacks depth and multi-dimensionality."
Director Celine Song’s choice of camera shots and angles also shows her sophistication in telling the story in the most neutral way. She prefers long shots following the footsteps of the characters, placing them in the background of shady parks, rivers, and airy gardens.
"The fate of a single person is like a mist"
It’s poetic enough, intimate enough, but also airy enough that the viewer doesn’t feel like they’re peeping in on the characters. No matter where they meet, the camera creates a sense of their connection, a sense that nothing around them matters as much as this moment.
The vibration from every small gesture
Ngo Thi Nham once wrote a poem: "Nhan duyen nhat dot thuc mang mang", roughly translated as "Tơ duyên mot doan sent to the immense place", it seems that the feeling of Past Lives is also very close to that poem. In Past Lives, there are no earth-shattering moments of love, even the medium and panoramic shots when Hae Sung and Nora meet again in New York are like a technique of emotional restraint commonly seen in many Asian works.
In a world of cinema filled with sentimental movies, "Past Lives" stands out as a breath of fresh air. The film does not try to create unexpected twists or clichéd dialogues. Instead, it chooses to tell a story that is true and close to everyday life. The ending of the film, although not a happy ending in the literal sense, gives the audience a feeling of serenity and fulfillment. It is the ending of acceptance, of maturity and of love that transcends time.
