“There is a word in Korean: In-Yun. It means ‘providence’ or ‘fate’. But it’s specifically about relationships between people. I think it comes from Buddhism and reincarnation. It’s an In-Yun if two strangers even walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush. Because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives. If two people get married, they say it’s because there have been 8,000 layers of In-Yun over 8,000 lifetimes.”
“What if this is a past life as well, and we are already something else to each other in our next life?”
Two powerful quotes from a film filled with them; statements and observations that had me thinking long after I finished watching Celine Song’s debut feature from 2023. Based on this feature it will be interesting to follow this young up-and-comer as she digs her feet in and really gets going. Celine wrote and directed Past Lives based on an experience she had sitting in a bar with her American husband and her childhood sweetheart from Korea. As she sat there acting as interpreter, the idea for the film popped into her head. She took the experience as a jumping off point and wrote a purely fictional script that grew out of it, even using the actual moment in the bar as an opening scene before the bulk of the story, which takes place beforehand, plays out. By doing so it develops intrigue as we see these three sitting in a bar while there is speculation over who is who in the relationship. The natural tendency is to assume the two asian characters are a couple and the lone white man is the friend hanging out with them but that is not the case and even the off-screen couple speculating all of this is uncertain of it. This is ultimately a story about unrequited love and it will go places unexpected.
Na Young and Hae Sung are 12-year-old classmates in Seoul, South Korea in the year 2000. They have feelings for each other and have been set up for a play date by their parents. Not long afterwards, Na Young’s family immigrates to Toronto and the two lose contact. Not long afterwards, Na Young changes her name to Nora Moon.
Twelve years later Nora Moon (Greta Lee) has moved to New York City; Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) has finished his military service and is still living in South Korea. One day, Nora discovers on Facebook that Hae had posted that he was looking for Nae Young, unaware that she had changed her name. She reaches out to him and the two reconnect through video calls but, because of life and logistics, neither can travel to go see the other in person. As time goes by Nora becomes more and more distracted with the idea of traveling to South Korea to see him and eventually decides to take a break from their chats so that she can refocus her life on her writing and life in New York.
That break translates into another twelve years. During that time Nora has met Arthur Zaturansky (John Magaro) at a writer’s retreat. They fall in love and get married. Hae Sung finally travels to New York to meet up with Nora and the two visit several New York landmarks while getting reacquainted. Arthur questions whether he may be a roadblock in their own imperfect love story, a product of being the right person at the right time and that if someone else just like him had met her first things might have turned out much differently. Nora reassures him that she loves him and is grateful that he knows her well enough to trust her. The following day Nora and Hae spend some more time together, then go to dinner with Arthur in tow, the very scene the film opened with. Seeing it from this perspective gives it a whole different, melancholic feel that it didn’t have in the opening shot. Now there are undertones of all the possibilities that fate has sidestepped to get them to this point.
Life isn’t always a series of events that leads to happiness. Sometimes it can be bittersweet or even outright sad. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work out for the better, though. Garth Brooks opined “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers,” a sentiment that means something whether you believe in the divinity or not. I had a crush on a girl throughout my high school years. I was young and impressionable at the time and would fantasize about marrying her often. It didn’t happen, of course, and I ended up married to someone else entirely and love her with all of my heart. You never forget your first crush, though. This first girl became a friend of mine through the magic of social media, reconnecting with me through the same app Nora and Hae did. Recently, she died suddenly at the young age of 46, the victim of an undiagnosed health problem. Her sister died just a couple years earlier, too; old age just wasn’t in the cards for that family. The news of her death rocked me to the core when I first heard of it, not because of what I had been spared but because of what was happening in that family of hers. I lost a friend that day, too. What I had thought and hoped would happen in my life didn’t happen and much as I wanted that romance to blossom in my youth I wouldn’t trade for it now because I found something far better and more suited for me personally just a few years later with the woman I did marry.
Hae spends the entire film like I was when I was in high school, pining for a girl I would never have. We do see that at some point along the way he starts dating someone else but that is long over by the time he makes the trip to New York City. When Past Lives ends, Hae is off to the airport, ready to return home to South Korea and hopefully start living his life to the fullest, finding a girl that will love him and be ready to settle down and have a family. He needs this to help him move on, even if he will never be able to fully let Nora out of his heart. He feels the sting of a relationship that could have happened but didn’t. Nora feels it too and ends the film in her husband’s arms, sobbing as the two go back into their home. Both have missed out of something that could have been but circumstances, maybe even fate, has put them where they are at instead. “What if this is a past life as well…” he tells her as they say their goodbyes.
There is plenty to think about as the credits roll on this film but, even more importantly, there is plenty of things to feel, too. Celine Song’s script hits all the right notes to make sure of that, provoking an emotional response that resonates powerfully. The film was nominated for just two Academy Awards, one of which was that script and, watching it again, it is obvious why. It takes the themes of destiny, desire and the Korean belief of In-Yun and builds a compelling story that’s satisfying without having to rely on the crutch of a happy ending. Celine has done this masterfully on her first film and has proven to be a bright new star in the industry, someone to keep an eye on in the upcoming years. With her new feature, Materialists, on the horizon it will be interesting to see how she has channeled her talent, and expectations, into her sophomoric effort and whether she can capture lightning in a jar once again.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler
Best Original Screenplay: Celine Song
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Release Date: June 2, 2023
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro
Directed By: Celine Song
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