‘Past Lives Review: Celine Songs Understated Sundance Stunner Will Have ArtHouse Audiences Swooning

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In The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost turns poetry into a simple choice. Most of us know the end, but the middle of the road suggests that one day we will return to this metaphorical crossroads to try another path; In a compelling study of untapped potential called Past Lives, playwright Celine Song poetically describes a similar situation, only this time it is a series of personal life choices; - made us wonder what could have been.

Born in South Korea, Song draws on her history and culture to create this truly special debut film, a treasure that is both poignantly autobiographical and captivatingly multifaceted. Its often understated script, filled with words only when necessary, introduces the concept of Yin Yun to Western viewers, defining it as a cosmic means of bringing together souls connected in past lives. It's a great idea, presented with such finesse that this understated A24 offering could be the spiritual answer to last year's "Everything, Everywhere, All At Once." While Daniels' film takes a convoluted approach to multi-species, Past Lives is simple, slow, and straightforward. The heroes of the song may speculate, but there is no turning back. Or is there?

Past Lives takes place over three separate time periods built, like Moonlight (another A24 movie), on fond memories and childhood bonds. In the first part, 12-year-old Na Young (Son Ah Moon) moves from South Korea to Canada after giving up her first love. He had already decided that when he grew up, he wanted to be a writer. However, how could he know what awaits him at this age? And what does he understand, what remains?

We didn't quite understand how the film jumps a dozen years into the future. The boy, Hei Sun, has grown up. Now played by Theo Yoo, he looks handsome, albeit shabby, in his Korean military uniform. Na Young, now named Nora (Greta Lee), immigrated again, this time to New York, where she became a playwright through her studies. Accidentally or Ying Yun? Hye-sung's comments on his father's Facebook page. Nora no longer identifies with the girl she once was, but remembers Hae-sung fondly and responds to his message by answering a series of video calls.

And then, almost as suddenly as these conversations began, he cut them off. Another twelve years pass, and now Nora (Lee again) is married to another writer, Arthur (John Magaro), whom she met at an artists' retreat. Hae Sung has long since disappeared from her life when she finds out that he plans to visit New York for a week. Past lives seem to have moved towards this reunion from the very beginning under the influence of an inevitable attraction, and this is not surprising; First, Nora sits between Arthur and Hae Sung at the bar.

It is this tension that underlies the entire film, culminating in a conversation that captivates us as much as the walking and talking scenes in Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise. Ironically, Past Lives may be the antithesis of this movie. it's not about spontaneous bonding between strangers, but about the power of a pre-established intimacy with someone you knew a lifetime ago and with whom you seem to have had a relationship. . incomplete report. Business. Few films offer such frank conversations between men and women.

The aforementioned bar scene deserves special attention, in part because Song has already paid enough attention to all three characters. Nobody gets angry; no one gives a jealous blow. Nora's husband is learning Korean (in one of several memorable conversations, he explains that he reverts to his native language when he sleeps and wants to understand this hidden part of her). Hae Sun can speak a few words in English. But more often than not, in Nora's life, two men are separated by a language barrier and the woman they love. And here he is, caught in the middle, hanging between what is and what is possible.

It may have been a bad decision to use the same actors, Lee and Yu, in the middle and later stages of Nora's life. There is something beautiful but formless about people in their early 20s, and the artists seem too mature to capture it. This is where the music of Grizzly Bear collaborators Christopher Beer and Daniel Rosen comes in; the music practically oozes potential during the scenes where Nora and Hye-sung have a video call; a minor sound compared to when the latter tense up. there may be no talk of existence. outside inside

Given Song's experience as a playwright, it may seem surprising how much he relies on silence or lack of words. With the help of cinematographer Chabière Kirchner, he recognizes the visual potential of cinema, often preferring to see rather than hear, so body language and setting (Seoul and New York play themselves) give viewers room for reflection. When the characters speak, they express themselves beautifully, as in the hilarious meta scene where Arthur invites Nora to use what's going on in her work and then begins to analyze her role in the story.

Of all the love triangle movies ever made, Sonne made his in circles, ignoring many clichés in his quiet, devastating manner. Maybe it's because this very personal project is about feeling other than passion, something that develops over the years and allows life to contain recurring love.

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