Past lives- Our lives before: A great love film (review)
By telling the story of the unwavering bond that unites people, Celine Song virtuosoly dissects the bitterness of missed opportunities and hits us right in the heart.
Give up a piece of yourself to the other when you leave it, and, at the same time, build yourself from these encounters which leave an indelible mark. It is in this barter which governs human relations that the entire narrative framework of Past Lives, first feature film by playwright Celine Song. Mirroring an intimate moment in his life, the story revolves around the unfinished relationship of Nora and Hae Sung. Stopped at 12 by the American dream when the little girl emigrated from South Korea, their romance resumed 8 years later, but it was at 30 that they finally met again, when Nora was married to Arthur. First, purity. Past Lives does not claim to explain to us what love should look like, but begins a deeper reflection: does it necessarily have to be experienced to have value? Then, affliction. The director overwhelms her film with inevitability, confronting her characters with the heartbreaking “what if?” “. Stripped of all artifice, this drama enhanced by an intimate staging fascinates with its use of emptiness, that of words that have not been spoken, feelings that have not been experienced. Regret is everywhere, melancholy omnipresent. But all the finesse of the scenario remains in the writing of its characters, superbly embodied by the Greta Lee-John Magaro-Teo Yoo trio, whom Song avoids trapping in a futile love triangle. On arrival, everyone will project their own story. That of destinies that brush against each other but never cross.
By Celine Song. With Greta Lee, John Magaro, Teo Yoo…. Duration: 1h46. Released December 13, 2023
