(For Day 25 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem inspired by the Proust Questionnaire, so often incorporated into interviews. I latched onto the question “What is your greatest regret?” which ties in nicely with this film.)

Who am I?
I’ve had many years
To answer that question that rings in our ears.
I’ve grown used to moving, to not sitting still,
Though I’m not sure if that’s merely habit or skill.
I’ve learned a new language; I write in it well,
But still love yukgaejang and savor the smell.
I met someone kind, and the two of us… fit,
Despite once agreeing we hate to commit.
I’ve settled, but not like the second-best good,
Like dust that’s done flying and lands where it should.
Yet still I remember how close we once were,
Before parting ways for our lives to occur.
Who would you be to me, staying nearby
In that time before I answered
Who am I?
____________________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Although it won no major awards during this past Oscar season, I noticed a general sentiment among cinephiles that Past Lives was one of the best films of 2023, often ranked above the heavy hitters like Oppenheimer. It’s a small and tender drama that eschews bombast, and while it didn’t appeal to me as much as some, it certainly deserves praise all the same.

The directorial debut of Celine Song, who based it partially on her own experiences, Past Lives follows Na Young and Hae Sung from their time as childhood friends in Korea to their falling away when Na Young moves to the United States, eventually reuniting years later. During their time apart, Na Young, going by the Americanized name Nora (Greta Lee), meets and marries a fellow writer named Arthur (John Magaro). With the visit of Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), Nora finds herself torn between the life she has embraced and the life that might have been.

The greatest strength of Past Lives is its realism. The way the two childhood friends lose touch and periodically reconnect has an authentic quality, reflecting how much distance can affect the course of our relationships. There is surely an alternate-universe version of this movie full of melodramatic tension between Nora’s white husband and Korean beau, perhaps a torrid affair and a showy following of her heart. But that’s not this film.

Arthur is actually surprisingly cordial toward Hae Sung, even when being excluded as the other two speak in Korean, and Nora herself acknowledges how much she has in New York – home, career, husband – to hold her there. Yet in their frank conversations touching on time lost and the differences between East and West, there is a clear chemistry between them, a spark that Nora would surely like to follow if not for that all-important realism. Past Lives is a lovely snapshot of people already beyond their crossroads but willing to glance behind, potentially slow and boring for the uninterested yet insightful and elegant in its minimalistic love story.

Best line: (Nora’s mom) “It’s true that, if you leave, you lose things, but you also gain things too.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2024 S.G. Liput
794 Followers and Counting