Tropic Sprockets / Past Lives

By Ian Brockway

“Past Lives” by director Celine Song is her debut, and it is loosely based on her own experience in reuniting with a childhood friend. Grounded by engrossing performances in the lead roles, the film is subtle, affectionate and understated.

Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are two Korean children who bond with jokes and observations. The pair play together and become inseparable. 

One day Nora tells Hae Sung that her family is moving to America. Hae Sung shrugs his shoulders but inwardly he his saddened as an affectionate chemistry has been established.

Twelve years pass. During military service, Hae Sung obsesses over Nora. He gets a girlfriend but they soon break up.

One day, Hae Sung strives to contact Nora through the internet and on a whim, she replies and they resume their friendship through video chat.

Abruptly, during a chat Nora states that she wishes to suspend their contact for an indeterminate amount of time citing distractions.

Hae Sung is shocked and shuts down. Twenty years pass. Hae Sung, now a businessman, wants to visit New York. Nora now married, agrees to meet. Hae Sung is brimming over with emotion, but does his best to hide it.

Hae Sung meets Nora’s self-absorbed husband Arthur (John Magaro), and they talk buoyantly but Arthur feels left out regarding Nora’s ease with her friend. 

This film is sneakily compelling with rich nuanced acting. It is a special piece of filmmaking in the sense that it has no melodramatic agenda, it is a bare portrait of friendship laced with accents of romance. 

Painful and poignant it is to realize that Hae Sung is smitten with Nora but he falls short of any adamant expressions of feeling. 

A stare and a drift of the head in shyness speaks volumes and your spirit will be with Hae Sung.

Delicate and riveting, this is patient and illustrative filmmaking that unfolds like a fine short story and it will undoubtedly impress upon the heart.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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