Recent review: Celine Song's outstanding debut has emerged as a leading candidate for Best Picture of the Year.

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Navadenews - Celine Song's outstanding debut has emerged as a leading candidate for Best Picture of the Year - The first time we see the three leads of Past Lives - the stunning debut of writer-director Celine Song - are across the bar as two strangers try to figure out how the group knows each other. Upon seeing Nora (Greta Lee), Hae Sung (Yoo Teo), and Arthur (John Magaro), the two bar patrons make wild guesses:

Who is married, who is related, who is the third wheel in this equation? In Past Lives we also try to figure out where the three end up, what each other means, and what their stories are in a very romantic, flawlessly told and expertly crafted film. Probably the best movie of 2023.

Song jumped back 24 years before he hung out at the bar and showed young Nora and her family preparing to emigrate from South Korea. Before they left, Nora dated Hae Sung, a guy in her class she liked. After spending time together, they separated while Nora and her family flew thousands of miles away.

The song continues 12 years later when Nora is now in New York for school where she discovers that Hae Sung has been looking for her. They found each other again, forged online friendships and became almost inseparable in their long online conversations. Song builds the rest of the film up to that moment in the bar by telling this story that spans a quarter century and shows how much we change and how the relationships in our lives can change as we grow. older and growing.

Like last year's excellent Return to Soul, Past Lives shows the many lives we live in this life, and how we become new, different people while still being ourselves. For example, the Nora of children must be very different from the Nora we meet on campus, which is also different from the people we meet today. Of course, part of that person is there, but we stay to the core and keep growing. But Past Lives are also a matter of perspective in many ways. Nora may have seen a version of herself growing up in South Korea as a completely different person, but for Hae Sung, who experiences those childhood moments as the only time he's spent with the girl he's liked for years. almost the essence of who he is.

Past lives often go back to the idea of "inyeon" where they had moments bonding with each other throughout their lives. This could be someone passing by on the street or someone with whom someone has an important relationship. But no matter what, inyeon explores the idea that all of our meetings, all of our relationships, are fated, that we are meant to meet those people in our lives, and that they will have an impact no matter what. It's this core idea that makes Past Lives such a heartwarming proposition as we watch Nora and Hae Sung grow, change, grow closer and farther apart.

Since this is a film and we expect that kind of story to end with reunion and love, Song lives up to that expectation but makes their relationship just as important no matter how the story ends. At one point, a character comments that if this story were a film, they would be seen as villains, people who prevent what the audience wants. It's an interesting moment that isn't entirely wrong, but Song's play with difficult ideas and emotions makes the story all the more powerful in the long run. This is not a story about happy endings or disappointments, this is a story about the intricacies and complications of our lives and relationships and how our lives can never turn out the way we hoped. And sometimes those uncertainties and surprises are even better than we imagined.

Greta Lee is great as Nora in that she still embodies the joy and curiosity that made her such a beautiful child, but she is important in showing us a path in life that changes us in some way, while our hearts remain the same. . Yoo Teo is also great as Hae Sung who can't let go of the girl he has loved since childhood. This love becomes so endearing and touching thanks to Yoo Teo's performance, and it's hard not to get excited when he and Nora get back together. While he doesn't get as much screen time as the other two, Magaro is also a great addition to the group, whose look and Hangdoira's fear and anxiety make him a character that may be clichéd, but instead makes him one of their own. That. the most sympathetic and gentle character in the film. This great company.

Song makes a film that perfectly captures the chaos of life. A song explores the idea that certain things never happen in our lives that we would almost expect, but are satisfied that our lives are going exactly the way they should. For a debut film, it's surprising how Song treats these subtle and complex ideas with such care and consideration. Past lives aren't always about regrets, but rather about accepting that the choices we made in life were the right choices, and the growth that leads to changing our wants and desires over the years changes. Kanto does this beautifully, with calm and understated storytelling in every shot (Kanto worked with Small Ax cinematographer Shabier Kirchner on this), while tackling subjects that even established and veteran filmmakers would struggle to do justice to. Watching Past Lives takes a look at Celine Song as she becomes one of the most exciting new directors of the future.

Song's work here is remarkable because this past, present, and future story is a carefully crafted story told with love and heart. Greta Lee, Yoo Teo, and John Magaro form an extraordinary performing trio, each with a unique and important story perspective. Movies leave you wanting more and will be remembered for a long time. Past Lives wasn't just the best film at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but it's probably going to be one of the best films of 2023.