The storyline is very simple. Lifelong childhood friends in Seoul, Korea are forced apart by circumstances when the girl's family emigrates to Canada. About 12 years later they re-connect via the internet, but he is stuck in Korea, and she has career commitments in Canada and the U.S. So, in a decision reminiscent of the memory-erasure in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, they agree to stop corresponding and Zooming online and pay attention to their real lives. Another 12 years pass, and he is invited to meet her and her husband in New York City. They meet, talk, and ponder.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The three actors are excellent, and the dialogue with its hesitations and pauses is utterly realistic - which I value highly in movies that are dialogue-driven. Regarding the overall tone of the movie, one of the reviews I read used the term "pitch-perfect", which is exactly correct. This movie is not overly sentimental or overly analytical - and it's not a "rom com" because there is no comedy. It is a serious contemplation of destinies, alternative possibilites, and stark choices that echo Frost's "The Road Not Taken."
As I looked through various reviews for salient commentary, the best I found was this comment, oddly enough in the YouTube trailer comment thread:
The quick cut at the end showing them as kids was sublime. Gave me chills. There they are once again the two kids standing together but also apart on their divergent paths. The memory now in nighttime mirroring their present was beautiful visual poetry. A realization that their feelings for each other can only exist in a time and space both real and imaginary."
Past Lives has won multiple awards internationally and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Screeplay at the last Academy Awards. I borrowed the DVD in our library, but the movie should be available streaming and it's available on Netlix.
Hmm. On Netflix UK it has a "Remind Me" button so probably coming there later in the year.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is fascinating to ponder what different life choices would have meant, logic me always thinks that too many people waste a lot of time dreaming about what could have been. Often, better than current life of course.
ReplyDeleteAt such times, I remind myself (feeling very erudite) of Candide who says: Il faut cultiver notre jardin - we have to tend our garden: You have to take care of your own garden/stuff/life/shit. My interpretation is that it's better to focus on your own grass than to be jealous of the neighbor's greener grass. Stop staring over the fence and work to get your own grass as green as you can. In different words: the road you're on can only happy if you keep it in the best possible shape. Dreaming of other roads when you can be making the current one better is a waste of time. You made choices, now make them a success! No point in being unhappy with the result of your choices when you can make your life better now. Do it. Instead of dreaming.
[And yes, I know Voltaire was giving political commentary that can contemporarily be translated as France premier - France first, but isn't the point of literature that we can apply it to our own lives?]
It's the most authentic and poignant film about romantic love that I've seen in decades. Instant classic.
ReplyDeleteI read a couple of reviews. Looks like its on Netfix. If so, I got weekend plans!
ReplyDeletePlease leave a comment/evaluation here when you've seen it. :-)
DeleteI saw it when it came out at the cinema. It was good, although I was a bit disappointed at the time because I think I was hoping for something like Before Sunrise. There is a vague similarity - both covering a brief period of time, and the theme of evanescent love. But I watched Before Sunrise when I was a different person 30 years ago, and arguably that film is too much of a fairy story, so the disappointment is on me rather than on the film. Past Lives is more realistic.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting that the Korean chap, who is better looking, seems more of a catch, has done military service, and has a claim on her past, is placed in situations where, because of language, he is not the 'alpha male' we might expect. Particularly because I assumed educated Koreans are generally fluent in English (a mistaken assumption). At the same time, it felt artificial that her husband was so insecure, not just about this new chap, but generally.
Overall, I thought it a good film, rare in its atmosphere and subject matter.