It seems to be the season for cinematic love triangles. Maybe it’s a consequence of filming during Covid. Maybe it’s just a perpetual theme that paints a canvas for rich drama. In the case of
Past Lives, it definitely builds on director and screenwriter Celine Song’s knowledge of making theatre.
A married woman now living in America and having success as a playwright reconnects with a childhood friend with whom she’s twice cut off relations (not always her fault). First we watch 12-year-old Na Young casually say her goodbyes to her South Korean classmates, leaving a heartbroken Hae Sung to silent nurse his pain. Twelve years later, divided by thousands of miles, they reconnect through social media. A further twelve years later, their on/off friendship reaches its climax when they meet up again in real life in New York.
While
Passages (
review) – still
playing at the QFT until 14 September – is all about love and sex, Past Lives deals with a more romantic love. (I’m not sure
Pastages or
Passlives double bills will catch on!) While Seung Ah Moon is beautifully nonchalant playing young Na Young (opposite Seung Min Yim’s wounded Hae Sung), it’s Greta Lee’s portrayal of Na Young – who has now westernised her name and is called Nora – that lights up the screen. Although she hasn’t lost any of her bluntness or cool ambition, and tends to roll with life’s punches, there is a sense that Nora’s heartbeat quickens when she’s in the virtual or real-world presence of the more idealistic Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), even if he feels the loss of his friend much more keenly than she does. Over 105 minutes we discover whether the friends know each other. Moreover, we watch and judge whether they even know themselves.
Like
Owen McCafferty, Celine Song writes good silences. Whether incredibly comfortable or very ill at ease, Seung Ah Moon and Seung Min Yim use the smallest of movements to hint at what Nora and Hae Sung are thinking and feeling. It has the richness of a rehearsed stage play where every eyeroll and imperceptible shrug paints a picture of what’s going on between the lines of dialogue. Getting these little details right is just one of the things well is just that marks Past Lives out as a great film.
The concept of
inyeon (subtitled as
in-yun) is introduced and underlined throughout the film, but what Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently detective character would have called
interconnectedness is nearly a distraction from the interactions between the principal characters.
The third wheel in the triangle is Arthur (John Magaro), Nora’s husband. While he has learned some Korean, there are huge parts of his wife’s experience and personality to which he has no access. A realisation that is hammered home when her childhood friend with only a smattering of English arrives on the scene and Nora has intense conversations with which he cannot engage. You’ll spend a lot of time pondering whether he’s distant and insecure, incredibly relaxed, or even misogynistic.
Past Lives is being screened at Queen’s Film Theatre as well as Odeon and Cineworld Belfast from Friday 8 September.
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