Shadows on the Wall | Past Lives

Past Lives

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir-scr Celine Song
prd David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
with Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah, Leem Seung-min, Yoon Ji-Hye, Choi Won-Young, Ahn Min-Young, Seo Yeon-Woo, Kiha Chang, Shin Hee-Chul, Park Jun-Hyuk
release US 2.Jun.23, UK 8.Sep.23
23/US A24 1h45

• TOP 5 FILM
• BEST DIRECTOR
• BEST SCREENPLAY

SUNDANCE FILM FEST
BERLIN FILM FEST

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Filmmaker Celine Song makes a strong debut with this gorgeously written and directed drama exploring how relationships shift over time. Drawing on the Korean idea of inyuh, which speaks of intertwining fates over multiple lifetimes, this is an involving look at how some connections are simply meant to be. It's a warm and observant film, infused with wit and passion, and packed with moments that resonate with unusual intensity.

At 12, Na Young (Moon) and Hae Sung (Leem) are best pals, maybe even in love. Then Na Young's family immigrates to Toronto, and it's 12 years before they reconnect on Facebook. Now in New York, Na Young has become Nora (Lee), while Hae Sung (Yoo) is preparing to study Mandarin in China. As she's pursuing a writing career, Nora suggests taking a break from their intense webcamming. Over the following years, she marries fellow writer Arthur (Magaro). Then Hae Sung books a flight to New York to see Nora in person after 24 years.

Quietly crossing decades, the film captures key moments rather than major landmarks. For example, professional lives remain in the background, while discussions revolve around relationships, memories and hope. This makes the film unusually intimate, cutting through surfaces to highlight complexities. And the depiction of nationality is also inventively layered, most notably in how Nora now sees how very Korean Hae Sung is, and more importantly, how Korean she is too. These elegantly understated insights are scattered throughout the dialog.

Many sequences need no words at all, as the actors convey big feelings in subtle glances. Lee, Yoo and Magaro are exceptional at allowing the camera to see right through them, making these people far more interesting than expected. As Arthur notes at one point, if he was writing the story, he would be the evil white husband keeping the childhood sweethearts apart. But this is real life, and none of these people are stereotypes. They are brought to life vividly by the actors, profoundly engaging without the need for melodramatic fireworks.

It's rare to see a film that can deal with romance and friendship without ever slipping into sentimentality or fiery emotion. Instead, Song continually lifts feelings into the open, revealing deep affection and heartbreak as purely natural. Because the story is loosely based on her own experiences, she catches the sense of being an immigrant with unusual nuance. And she also finds pointed inspiration in the momentous connections between these three people in the past, present and perhaps the future as well.

themes, , language 31.Aug.23

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